Changes
by caterinavalentine
Summary: "Jade! Mommy said we getta go to Sea World for our birthday!" a little girl the spitting image of Jade herself said with excitement, jumping into the older girl's arms. "Sea World kills the whales," Jade said. CHAPTER 11 RATED M
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Jade knew something was going on with Cat. She didn't know what, but she'd find out eventually. The perky redhead was unusually solemn and quiet. She'd gone from annoyingly sweet and happy to depressingly sad and snappy. She wasn't her usual dim-witted self, either. Things she was saying lately, made complete sense. The more Jade thought about it, the more it worried and annoyed her that she didn't know what it was, because Cat told her everything.

They'd known each other since preschool. Cat was being made fun of by some other kids. The bullying wasn't what bothered Jade. It was the sound of the other kids' annoyingly high pitched voices. She yelled at them, telling them to pick on someone their own size. Cat was significantly smaller than all the other kids. She was the size of a bit-above-average two-year-old when she was four.

Jade's thoughts were interrupted by the school bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day. Before Jade could get her things gathered, the flighty redhead was already out of the classroom. She always waited for Jade by their lockers, so the pale young lady wasn't worried about it too much.

As soon as she grabbed them both a Wahoo Punch from the soda machine, she walked to her scissor-covered locker, exactly where she knew the younger girl would be.

"Hey," she said, handing Cat a soda. "What's up?"

Cat shrugged and played with the tab of the soda can. "Nothing really… Thinking about homework. Calculus is gonna kick my butt," she said.

While Cat seemed like the most stupid person in the world, she was actually a straight A student. She was book smart, but most of the time she wasn't very smart when it came to common sense.

"Calculus would kick anyone's ass—I can't even do calculus, so you got me beat there," Jade said. "Wanna come to my place? We'll die to our painfully agonizing homework together with a table full of chips, fat cakes, and candy bars."

Cat's nose scrunched. Not even a small smile. "I'm not feeling the food, but I'll come over. No one's home anyways."

* * *

Just ten minutes later, the two teens arrived at Jade's house—which was surprisingly not black. The second the door closed, there was a tiny voice getting closer and closer along with the pitter patter of small feet running across a hardwood floor.

"Jade! Mommy said we getta go to Sea World for our birthday!" a little girl the spitting image of Jade herself said with excitement, jumping into the older girl's arms.

"Sea World kills the whales," Jade said.

"What?" the little girl asked with confusion on her face.

"Jadelyn Autumn West," an older woman said as the two teenagers and younger girl walked into the kitchen.

"What? It's true," Jade said. "Shouldn't lie to the kids, Mom; sets a bad example."

"Oh hush," she said. "Hi Cat. How are you?"

Cat gave the woman a smile—a fake smile, Jade noticed—as she hugged her. "I'm okay, Mom."

Jade and her mother, Grace, glanced at each other, both the same amount of worry in their eyes.

"Are you sure?" Grace asked.

Can t nodded. She'd be damned if anyone got her secret out of her. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Alright, then. You're staying for dinner. I'm making your favorite…Jade, can I talk to you in the backyard?"

Jade nodded and made her way to the back door, Grace staying behind to place a baby—just just about six months old—into a high chair.

"Mind watching Joanie and Tyler for a few minutes?" Grace asked.

Cat shook her head. "I don't mind. What's Tyler need to eat?"

"Bananas. In the fridge," she said as she walked outside. She walked over to Jade, sitting on the hammock next to her. "What's wrong with her?"

Jade shrugged. "I don't know. She'd been acting like this for a couple days, but I thought she'd tell me what's going on."

"Have you asked her?"

"No. If she doesn't tell me by the end of the week then I'll ask her."

"Maybe she's just not feeling well."

"It's more than that. She's not herself period. She didn't even ask Sikowitz any weird questions about his body."

"His… His body?"

"Don't ask. He's weird."

Grace sighed. "Whatever this is, it needs to be brought to attention. She looks tired. She needs to take a nap."

"Don't tell her that, she'll get cranky," Jade said, walking back to the door. "I'll get it out of her. Somehow."

Cat sighed, spooning another small helping of pureed bananas into Tyler's mouth as Jade walked back into the door. "Did you get in trouble for going over your data limit again?" she asked.

"Yeah. I got grounded. Stupid TheSlap."

"Oh. I'll finish feeding Tyler and I'll go home, then."

"What? Why?"

"You're grounded."

"So?"

"So, I don't wanna get you in trouble," she said, standing up and throwing the empty baby jar away, putting the spoon in the sink.

"Mom isn't gonna kick you out, she invited you to dinner."

"I'm not that hungry," Cat said, grabbing her backpack. "I'll come over another time. I forgot to do the dishes at home, anyways. I wanna have them done before my mom gets off work so she doesn't have to do them."

"Okay… Text me later."

Cat didn't even reply. She just walked out of the house.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later when she arrived at her own house, she walked upstairs only to accidentally bump into her brother.

"You don't have to take up the whole hallway, fat ass," he said.

"Fuck off, Max," she snapped, slamming her bedroom door behind her and locking it. She never used that language. Ever. She never, ever cursed. What was wrong with her? She didn't even like those words—she constantly told Jade not to say them and here she is, dropping the F-bomb like it was the most common word in the world.

It pissed her off beyond belief that her brother was always calling her names. She knew he wasn't all there in the head, but that was no reason to be a dick. She put her backpack down on her bed and sat in her computer chair, moving the mouse to wake the laptop up.

Once she was logged on, she scrolled through her friends list for a few seconds before she received an instant message.

 **RobbieTheMan:** _Hey Cat, what's up?_

 **YourSecretValentine:** _Hey Robbie. Nothing._

 **RobbieTheMan:** _Wanna come over? My mom rented the Waggafuffles movie for my sister._

 **YourSecretValentine:** _I don't wanna watch it… I'd go swimming though. Will you swim with me?_

 **RobbieTheMan:** _Sure! I'll wear my Spongebob swim trunks!_

 **YourSecretValentine:** _Gross… I'll be there soon._

 _YourSecretValentine has logged off_

As soon as Cat was ready, she grabbed her cell phone and made her way out of her room, only to run into her brother—again.

"Fatty fatty two-by-four, couldn't get out of her bedroom door," Max sang.

"How the fuck did I get out of my bedroom if I'm too fat to fit through it, dumbass? God, Max, go play with yourself or something. Just don't reproduce—we don't need any more accidents in the family," she snapped before finally making her way downstairs and out her front door.

Yes, that was mean. Yes, she felt bad for being mean. But, why should she? He constantly called her fat. It pissed her off and she wasn't going to take it anymore.

* * *

As soon as she got to Robbies, they ate dinner that his mother made. And by eating, that meant Robbie shoved every ounce of food on his plate down his throat and Cat took small bites here and there, but nonetheless left most of it on her plate because she wasn't very hungry.

After a while, she and Robbie finally went to the backyard to swim. She still had her shorts on over her one-piece suit when she jumped into the deep end next to Robbie, purposely splashing him.

As soon as she came up for air and smiled at him. "Sorry, did I splash you?" she asked.

"Yes!" Robbie said. "You know I don't like it when you splash me in the face, it leaves water spots on my glasses."

"That's why you dry them off, dummy," she said, swimming away from him and floating on her back.

Robbie watched her for a few seconds. Were they in a relationship? What even was their relationship? They'd kissed several times before. In fact, it was so natural for the both of them, they thought nothing of it when they did kiss because they always just seemed to happen. It hadn't gone any further than that romance-wise.

Upon watching her, he noticed something different. She looked physically different. Maybe it was the way she was laying. But… maybe it was something else. They'd swam together several times and just a few weeks ago they were in this same position. Cat floating on her back. Robbie admiring her body—not in a perverted way, though. This time, he could just about count her ribs. He didn't like that.

"Hey, Cat?" Robbie asked.

Cat looked at him, before closing her eyes again. "Yeah?"

"Are you stressed out about anything?"

"Nope. Why?"

"Just wondering… You look a little thinner than normal… I know stress does that to people."

Cat got off of her back and swam over to him. "I'm fine. I guess I've been worrying about homework lately, maybe that's it."

"Maybe…"

Cat looked at him for a few seconds, wrapping her arms around his neck as he spun them around in slow circles. "I'm fine. Nothing is wrong. I just haven't been feeling myself. I'm feeling better, though."

"Promise?"

She never broke a promise. This one, she might break.

Cat gave him a small smile before kissing his lips sweetly. "Sure, Robbie," she said, never actually saying the word.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Jade walked into Hollywood Arts, hoping Cat hadn't beaten her. She looked around in Cat's usual places and discovered she wasn't there. As soon as she got back to the lockers, she grabbed Tori by the arm.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked as she was dragged to a utility closet. "What's going on? Please don't murder me, I didn't mean to scratch your car yesterday!"

"This isn't about my ca—you _scratched my car_?" Jade asked, fire burning in her eyes as she closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I just tripped and the buckle on my purse scratched it."

"I don't care about the car right now. I'm more concerned about Cat."

"Cat?" Tori asked with worry in her voice. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"

"I don't know, okay? I don't know. She's just not herself. Don't tell me you haven't noticed that she's been quiet and hasn't been weird."

"Cat's just an unusual person, Jade, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"You don't understand. You've known her for two years—I've known her since we were _four_. Something's not right. She's hiding something and I need to figure out what it is. We need to get the gang together and find out what's wrong with her."

"Jade, I'm sure she's fine."

"Please!" Jade said, her eyes filling with desperation. "I've never, _ever_ asked you for anything in my life, I need you to help me. She's like my sister. If something is going on, I don't want to lose her. I _can't_ lose her. Please help me," her voice cracked as she covered her mouth.

Tori nodded. "Okay… Okay, I'll help…"

* * *

Later that day, Cat still wasn't in school. It worried Jade more than it worried anyone else. Now, the gang was in Sikowitz's class room after school was over. None of them knew quite what to do, but they were all her friend and wanted to try.

"Has _anyone_ heard Cat talking to anybody else, or on the phone maybe, about something unusual?" Jade asked.

"Not to me," Andre said.

"Me, either," Beck chimed in.

"What about you, Robbie? She say anything non-Cat like?" Tori asked.

"Well, she was at my house a few days ago," Robbie said. "We went swimming, but nothing weird happened."

"She didn't seem different to you? Attitude wise?" Jade asked.

"A little, but I just figured she was having a bad day. Didn't wanna push it if she was having girl issues," he said. "There was also… she looked _different_."

"Different how?"

"Body wise. I can't place it. She was floating on her back though, so it could have just been the way she was laying."

"What was different?"

"She was just a little thinner than a few weeks ago. She said she was a little stressed with homework," Robbie said. "Could this be anything serious?"

"Anything with Cat can be serious, you know her story, Robbie," Beck said.

"Her story?" Tori asked. "What story?"

Jade sighed and ran her hands over her face. "She isn't all there in the head."

"Uh… I've noticed."

"Not stupid-wise. She was brainwashed by her parents. She and her brother both have psychological issues. Her brother is a lot worse than she is. He just went insane one day and bit a chunk of Cat's leg out of her. Her parents made her think that it was okay because he didn't understand what he was doing, but they _told_ him to bite her."

"Why wasn't she taken away?"

"She was, for about a week. She told the social workers and the police that her brother had head issues and that he didn't mean to bite her. They believed her because she was a kid."

"How old was she?"

"Seven," Jade said.

Jade hated the Valentine family except for Cat. She couldn't even sympathize with Max. He wasn't just mentally challenged, he was fucking _evil_.

"So… Why doesn't Cat think anything is wrong?"

"She was diagnosed with Stockholm syndrome. She blocked all the bad shit out of her head, so she doesn't even remember the bad stuff. She thinks she got the scar on her leg from a dog bite. She doesn't remember her brother torturing her by holding her down and holding knives over her face, or trying to make spiders bite her and bees sting her. She doesn't remember the sexual abuse her brother and father did to her..."

"God… How old was she when all this happened?"

Jade stayed silent, tears sliding down her cheeks. Everyone noticed but no one commented on it.

"She was eleven. It went on until she was thirteen… Maybe even still going on," Andre said. "She missed a lot of school sometimes."

"She would show up with bruises all over," Beck said. "Said she fell down the stairs."

"She _did_ ," Robbie said. "But, only because that son of a bitch _pushed_ her," he said, kicking a chair. "I swear to god if they're still touching her I'll kill both of the mother fuckers."

"Robbie, calm down," Beck said, standing up and putting his hand on Robbie's shoulder. "We all need to be as rational as possible. We have no idea what's going on at Cat's house."

"That's what pisses me off."

"We have to do something," Jade said sniffling. "We have to find out what's going on with her to make her different right _now_. Not what happened in the past."

"What happens if she's cured from the Stockholm?" Tori asked. "Is that possible?"

"It's possible that she'll finally realize that what her parents allowed to happen to her was bad and not okay just because her brother's a lunatic. It's possible that she finally realizes that she was raped, not playing a game that was so special she wasn't allowed to tell anyone… It's possible that… she realizes all the shit she's gone through and she finally just breaks down," Jade said, sobbing.

Beck walked to his girlfriend and knelt in front of her, hugging her and stroking her hair.

"Jade…" Tori said. "I know I haven't known her as long as you have, but I wholeheartedly believe that she will be okay in the end of all of this. She'll come out of it. She's strong."

"She's _not_ strong," Jade said. "She's messed up in the head, Tori. She was made to believe that sleeping with her father and her brother was okay and normal and that every family did it. She was made to believe that her brother's violent outbursts are okay."

"Why don't we go to her house? Corner her until she tells us what's wrong."

"No. We don't force her to do anything. That's how her father works, not her friends. We just need to make sure she knows that we're here no matter what, when she needs to talk. And we won't leave her."

"How are we supposed to do that if she doesn't come back to school?"

"I'll find a way."

* * *

Cat zipped her backpack up just after putting her homework and textbooks in it. She'd been working on homework all day. She skipped school. Her brother wouldn't let her go, so she stayed locked up in her room all day.

The petite redhead walked into her bathroom, turning the water on to fill up the bath tub. After she undressed she clipped her hair up away from her face so it wouldn't get wet while she took her bath.

The girl stepped into the tub and sat down, letting out a small sigh as she leaned back. "Finally…"

A few minutes passed before her phone rang. She reached over to the counter and accepted the call, holding it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

 _"Hey,"_ Jade said.

"Hey Jade…"

 _"Um… Are you feeling okay?"_

Cat stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Yeah. Why?"

 _"I just… You seem different."_

"I'm not. I'm Cat."

 _"Seriously, Cat… What's going on?"_ Jade's voice cracked.

"W… why are you crying, Jade?"

 _"I'm worried about you. Everyone is."_

"Who's everyone?" Cat asked, sitting up a little.

 _"The gang… My mom. If she's worried about you then something is wrong, Caterina."_

Jade hardly ever called her by her full first name unless she was really serious.

"…I'm fine, Jade…" Cat said quietly.

 _"You're not!"_ Jade shouted. _"You are not fine! What's going on!"_

"Cat!" Max yelled. "It's play time, Cat!"

"Shit… _Shit_ ," Cat whispered. "Okay, I can't talk right now, Jade, I gotta go."

 _"What? No, we're talking about this now,"_ Jade said.

"I can't... "

"Cat!" Max yelled again.

"I can't Jade, I really can't," she said, hurriedly.

 _"Caterina Evangeline Valentine, don't you dare hang up on me!"_ Jade snapped.

Cat breathed heavily for a few seconds. "Jade, stay on the phone… Start a voice record, and do it now, and don't talk whatever you do, please stay quiet," she whispered quickly.

 _"Cat, what's going on? Is it your dad? Max? Are they trying to do something? Can you get away?"_

"Not fast enough, I'm in the bath, I—"

"Cat!" Max yelled again.

"Please, just stay on the line and record it," she whispered harshly before putting her phone face down on the counter.

On the other line, Jade did exactly as she was told and started recording the phone call. She muted her end so they wouldn't hear her.

"Max, no!" Cat yelled.

"It's play time, Cat," Max said.

Jade heard water sloshing around and heard Cat scream.

"Max, stop! Stop it! I'm ovulating!"

Jade covered her mouth, sobbing as she threw her phone on her bed, running to the house phone by her bedroom door. She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear.

 _"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"_ the operator asked.

"I—I'd like to report a rape that's currently happening," Jade said with a sob.

 _"Ma'am, are you in danger?"_

"No, it's my—it's my friend, her brother—he's hurting her."

 _"What's the address, ma'am?"_

"1156 Varsity Avenue, please hurry, her brother is hurting her, please hurry!"

 _"There's a deputy on his way right now, ma'am. What's your name?"_

"Jadelyn West."

 _"Alright Jadelyn, what's your address?"_

"6632 Litchfield Court."

 _"We'll send a deputy out to you to talk to you. Would you like to stay on the phone until they get there?"_

"No, I'll be fine, just please get someone to my friend's house, please, hurry."

Jade hung up and walked over to her cell phone. Hearing Cat's screams, she sobbed, running her hand through her hair.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Cat showed up back at school two days later. All morning, she'd been getting stared at. It was starting to really piss her off. Almost more than Max's fat jokes.

She hadn't spoken to anyone about what happened—just Jade, and only to let her know that she was alright. She knew Jade didn't believe her. She shouldn't have believed her. She wasn't alright. She was all kinds of messed up. She knew that.

"Hey Cat!" Sinjin said from behind, putting their hand on her shoulder.

That move made her instinctively turn around and punch the boy in the jaw, sending him backwards on the floor. "Don't fucking touch me!" she yelled.

"Jeez Cat, I'm sorry…" he muttered.

At the commotion, Beck ran over, but was suddenly calmer when he saw that it was only Sinjin. "What happened over here?" he asked, looking at Cat.

"He grabbed me from behind," Cat said.

"What?" Beck asked, looking at Sinjin.

The boy held his hands up in defense as he stood up. "Not like that. I touched her shoulder and she went crazy on me."

"Just leave her alone Sinjin, she hasn't been feeling well. It's best to just stay away from her for a while."

As the awkward boy left, Beck looked at Cat, who he noticed had tears in her eyes but was trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hey," Beck said, moving her chin to look at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," her voice cracked. "He scared me. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Cat stayed silent and looked down. That was Beck's cue.

He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. "Cat, I want you to know that I'm here for you. Any time. Any day. I promise."

Cat sobbed into his chest.

"And if you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to. But, if you ever need to get it off your chest, I'll be right here to listen, alright?"

"What's going on?" Tori asked, walking up to them.

"Sinjin came up behind her and scared her. We got it handled."

"Are you okay, Cat?"

Cat nodded, but kept her face hidden in Beck's chest.

The bell rang and Tori looked at Beck.

"We should get to class," she said.

"You go. Let Sikowitz know Cat and I will be in soon and tell Jade not to worry. I got it covered," Beck said.

Tori nodded and walked off.

Beck ran his hand through Cat's red hair and sighed. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm sorry it happened to you. No one should go through something so bad that their own friend touching their shoulder scares the hell out of them," he said. "I meant what I said… You can tell me anything. But, I won't push it."

Cat was silent for a few seconds. "I just…" she started, pulling away and looking at him. "I don't understand how someone can be so… evil… so _disgusting_ … to their own family," her voice cracked. "What did I do? What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve it?"

"Nothing," Beck said. "You didn't do anything wrong to deserve anything you've been through. None of it. Okay? You didn't do anything wrong."

Cat shook her head and sat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I had to have done something. I had to have given him a hint on accident or worn the wrong clothes or _something_ —"

"Cat, you didn't do anything, even on accident. They shouldn't be doing the things they did to you, no matter what," he said sitting next to her.

She sniffled and shook her head. "The way I dress… The music I listen to… The way I dance… How I don't lock my bathroom door when I'm taking baths…"

Beck hated hearing that. The fact that she thought this whole ordeal was her fault broke his heart. It was like Jade said last week—she doesn't remember the bad stuff when she was younger, due to her Stockholm's. She still blocked that part out of her head. But she sure as hell knew it was wrong now, but just didn't know who else to blame but herself.

"Cat, there are millions of other girls that do those same things and their brothers and fathers don't hurt them the way yours hurt you… You need to get out of that house…" Beck said.

"Where am I supposed to go?" Cat asked, looking at him as tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm already in the system… The police were called a few days ago, I have _nowhere_ to go, Beck."

"You do, Cat. I'm sure there's someone out there…"

Cat shook her head. "No."

Beck sighed and ran his hand through her hair. "We're gonna figure this out, Cat… I promise.

* * *

Jade bit her nails, waiting for the other line to pick up. She was nervous as all hell, but she had to do something. After talking to Beck about what he and Cat talked about earlier at school, she knew exactly what to do.

 _"Hello?"_ a woman asked from the other line.

"Nonna, hi—this is Jade," she said.

 _"Oh hi, Jade, how are you?"_

"I'm really good… um… there's something you need to know… I know no one would have contacted you through the authorities, so I figured I'd tell you myself…"

 _"What's going on?"_

"Cat's in state custody."

 _"What? Why?"_

"Um… Max… He tried to… He raped Cat…" she said quietly.

 _"Oh my… What facility is she at?"_

"Womack Juvenile Services."

" _Please send me the number."_

"I will. I just wanted you to know what was going on. She thinks she doesn't have anywhere to go… I had to call you. Womack doesn't do research to find family, so… I took it into my own hands."

 _"Thank you very much, Jade. Please tell her I love her and I'll be in contact with her as soon as I can."_

"I will, Nonna."

 _"Bye bye."_

Jade sighed and hung up just as Joanie walked into her room and climbed up on her bed. "What's up, squirt?" she asked.

"Mama said Cat's sick," Joanie said. "Does she have a cold?"

"No… She's not really _sick_ , she's just having a bad time right now."

"How come she hasn't come over?"

"She's not allowed to leave the place she's at right now except for school."

"How come?"

"Because she's not at home, she's at a group home."

"What's that?"

Jade stayed quiet for a few seconds. "It's a house she lives in because she can't live in her house right now."

"Why not?"

"Because her brother hurt her."

"Max?"

"Yeah."

"I like Max. He's nice to me."

"It's really, really good that he's nice to you, but he's really bad to Cat."

"What did he do?"

"He did things a brother shouldn't do to his sister. You don't need to know specifics."

"Did he get in trouble?"

Jade nodded. "Yeah. He's not allowed to be near Cat anymore."

"What about their mommy and daddy?"

"Their daddy is in a lot of trouble, too. Their mommy is in the hospital."

"How come?"

"Because she tried to stop Max from hurting her and he beat her up."

"Why did he hurt their mommy? I thought Max was nice."

"He can be nice sometimes. It's not his fault that he's like that. There's something wrong with his head, he's sick and he can't help what he does."

"So does it make it okay that he does it if it's not his fault?"

Jade shook her head. "Absolutely not. It's never okay for anyone to do the things Max did, even if it's not their fault. No one should ever, ever do anything like what he did?"

"What did he do to Cat?"

"He just did some things he shouldn't have, baby. Maybe when you're older Cat will explain things, but it's not my business to tell and you're a little bit too little to know right now."

Joanie sighed and laid her head against Jade. "Okay… Can I sleep in here with you tonight?"

"Sure, squirt. Go get in your jammies. Make sure you bring your monkey and your water bottle, and find a movie to watch."

"Can we have popcorn?"

"Yeah. I'll go make it."

"You're the bestest big sister ever," Joanie said, kissing Jade's cheek and getting off the bed.

"I know, kid. I'm the only big sister you've got."

"You're still the bestest."

"Bestest isn't a word."

"I made it one," Joanie said, sticking her tongue out before walking out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Selena0612, Xemtlenc,** **and Guest** : thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

 **Day6:** I haven't decided whether I want Cat and Robbie together or not, but I personally think they're an adorable couple. Also, I rated it M for the theme/mention of rape/incest as well, not just the cursing. I'm changing it to T though, since there's no description of the sexual themes!

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

Cat sighed, lying back on her bed. The most uncomfortable bed she'd ever been in. She didn't remember the foster care beds being so bad last time she was at the Womack center. Of course, she was a lot younger too. At least this time she got a cool roommate. She kind of reminded her of Jade.

 _"Cat Valentine please report to the counselor's office,"_ the intercom said.

She sat up and grabbed a book from her night stand before walking out of the room. As she walked down the hallway, she handed the book to a smaller girl. "Here you go, Bethany."

"Thanks! You're a lifesaver, I don't know what I'd do if I lost this," the black-haired girl said.

"No problem."

"Cat!" a redheaded girl said, jogging up to her.

"Hey, Tandy."

"There's someone in the counselor's office for you."

"Did you happen to see who it was?"

Tandy nodded. "Yeah, an older lady and a girl about your age… and some weird looking dude with a puppet."

"A puppet?"

"Yeah, curly hair, glasses, kinda cute in a geeky way."

"Robbie…"

Tandy smiled. "Ooooohhh, who's Robbie? Your _boyfriend_?"

Cat thought for a few seconds and shrugged. "I dunno. We don't really have a label, we kinda just… go with whatever."

"Is he good in bed?"

Cat scrunched her nose. "God, Tandy, no. I haven't slept with him."

"He looks kinda pervy."

"He's not… he's really sweet. The puppet thing is just… his hobby. He's a ventriloquist."

"That's weird. Does he take that thing to school?"

Cat laughed and nodded. "Yeah… We go to a performing arts school, so he has to. Wish he would find something better, but it makes him happy and Rex is his best friend, so there's no use in making him get rid of him. Tori already almost killed him once."

"…How do you kill a _puppet_?"

"Oh, she tried to make a tornado, but she hit the wrong button and Rex got sucked into it and got all cracked up and stuff. Took him to the hospital so he would _die_ but Tori ruined it and made him _live_."

Tandy raised an eyebrow. "…Okay, Cat. You're a little insane, but I like you."

"Oh! Wait, was the older lady, did she have red hair?"

"Yeah. Like mine, though. Not yours."

"That's my Nonna!"

"Is she going to take you home with her?"

"I dunno, I hope so… I hate it here."

"Well, make sure you write to me, okay? If this is goodbye, then I'll miss you," Tandy said, hugging the shorter girl. "Take care, okay?"

Cat smiled and hugged her back. "Promise. We'll keep in touch."

 _"Caterina Valentine to the counselor's office,"_ the intercom said again.

Cat continued down the hall and finally reached the counselor's office, seeing Nonna, Jade, Robbie, and yes… Rex, too.

"Cat!" Jade and Robbie exclaimed, standing up.

Cat ran over to them and hugged them, never wanting to let go. " _God_ , I missed you guys…"

Since the day she broke down to Beck, she hadn't been in school. It had been well over two months since 'the incident' happened, and she'd been out of school for five weeks with no contact to or from any of her friends. She knew how foster care worked, so she knew it would have taken a while for someone to finally get through to come visit.

"Cat, my baby," Nonna said, taking Cat into her arms.

"Nonna…" Cat whispered, hugging her as tears filled her eyes. "I missed you…"

"Are you alright? Have they been treating you well? Have you been eating?"

Cat nodded. "They're treating me fine… Just like a prisoner. At least I get free meals though, right?"

"You're as thin as a stick, Cat."

"I know… I'm fine, Nonna, I promise."

"Cat, your grandmother here is going to be taking you home with her," her counselor Tammy said.

"Really?" she asked, moving out of Nonna's embrace. "I can go home?"

"As soon as the papers are processed she'll have full custody of you."

"…But until then, I'm stuck here…" she said with slight disappointment.

"No, no," Tammy said shaking her head. "Right now, we're granting her with temporary custody. The papers will take about two weeks to process. We'll give your grandmother a call to let her know when that happens. Before you leave we have to give you your discharge physical, so if you'll just go to the examination room Hailey will get you started on that."

"Can Jade come with me?"

"Sure."

Cat nodded and let out a small breath as she and Jade walked out of the counselor's office and down the hall.

"How have you really been?" Jade asked.

"Fine, Jade…"

"You're not fine. There's still something going on with you. You're still like you were before all of this happened, Cat."

"A person tends to go down the wrong path when her brother decides to fuck her," she snapped.

Jade looked at her for a few seconds. "…I'm sorry, I didn't mean… Before that happened… There was something going on."

"Yeah, I know. I'm fine."

"No you're not. You can't lie to me, I know you better than anyone."

"I just don't feel good, okay?"

"I felt your entire _skeleton_ when you hugged us," Jade said, stopping her from walking.

"I've always been skinny, Jade."

"You aren't just _skinny_ , Cat, you are _anorexic_."

Cat stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"You are, aren't you? You haven't been eating, have you?" Jade demanded.

"I wasn't before—" she started.

"Cat, you can't do that! You can't just _not_ eat!"

"Let me finish! I wasn't _before_ , but when I got here, they made us. I've been eating, I just can't keep anything down very often."

"So you're bulimic."

"No. I don't make myself sick, it just happens."

"Why?"

"I don't know, Jade, it just does," Cat said as she started walking again.

"Well, I don't like it."

"You think I do? Puking is disgusting; you think I'd do it on _purpose_?"

"Well, I don't know lately."

"Thanks, Jade," she said, walking into the examination room. "Hi, Hailey."

"Hey, Cat," Hailey said. "Hop up on the table."

Cat hoisted herself up on the table and let out a small breath. "Am I getting shots?"

"Yep."

"Don't hurt me."

"You're the biggest baby."

"It's just a little pin prick," Jade said.

"If she could take a little prick she wouldn't be a virgin," Hailey said.

Cat and Jade looked at each other before Cat laughed a little.

"Yeah… I'm not a virgin," Cat said.

"Well. Goes to show what I know, just ignore me and my lame jokes then," Hailey said.

Cat watched Hailey prep a shot and she looked away when she walked over to her.

"It'll only hurt for a second," Hailey said before sticking the needle in her arm. As soon as she administered the medicine she pulled the needle out and threw it away before putting a unicorn band-aid on Cat's arm, earning a smile from the sixteen-year-old.

"I love unicorns," Cat said.

"I know, kiddo. I need you to change into a gown," Hailey said picking up a clipboard and marking a few things down. "Do I have your permission to perform an oral exam, eye exam, and a nose and ears exam?"

"Yes."

"Do I have your permission to perform a physical exam, which may require uncomfortable placement of my hands?"

"Yes."

"Do I have your permission to perform a breast exam?"

"A mammogram?"

"No. Just a normal breast exam."

"Oh. Sure."

Hailey marked a few more things down. "Do I have your permission to perform a pap smear?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Thanks, Cat," she said placing her clipboard back down on a counter. "I'll step out, you change into a gown, make sure your underwear are off."

"Okay."

As Hailey left, Cat started undressing and Jade looked at her for a few seconds.

"You look like you've gained _some_ weight," Jade said. "That's good."

"Yeah… I can keep some stuff down, but other stuff messes with me. I don't know what's going on with me lately. Stress, I guess," she said getting the gown put on before getting back on the table.

"Well, I'm glad you're getting meat on your bones—you looked downright sickly a few months ago... You still feel like skin and bones, though."

Hailey walked back in with a tray and closed the door. "Alright Cat, I'm gonna start with the physical first, get all your vitals, your oral, eyes, nose, and mouth done and we'll do the pap last, okay?"

Cat nodded. "Alright."

It took about five minutes to do her vitals and her 'head' exam, but when they got to the physical, Cat started getting uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" Hailey asked, pressing on Cat's stomach.

"Yeah, it just… feels weird, I guess. Like a knot or something," Cat said.

"Is it painful?"

"No, I can just feel it when you push on my stomach."

Hailey felt around on her stomach for a few seconds before stopping. "Well, it could be nothing. I'll do an ultrasound to calm your nerves after the pap, alright?"

Cat nodded.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah…"

"Legs in the stirrups, bottom at the very edge of the table."

Cat did what she was told. She laid still for a few minutes and looked at Hailey, but didn't like the look on the woman's face. "…What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Your cervix looks a little different, but nothing to worry about."

"Does that mean Cat has a wonky vagina?" Jade asked with a laugh.

"Nah, it just means I need to run a test. When was your last period, hon?"

"I don't know. I just got off of it the week before I got sent here," Cat said.

"Okay. Pap's done, feel free to get comfortable. You're bleeding a little, you might wanna put on a pad," Hailey said, grabbing a feminine pad from a drawer. "I'll get the ultrasound done as soon as I come back in. Put your underwear back on, but stay in the gown for now."

Cat nodded as Hailey left and did what she was told.

Ten minutes later, she was staring at a black and white screen as Hailey rolled a remote around on her stomach.

"Oh, dear…" Hailey whispered, barely audible.

"What?" Cat asked. "What's wrong? Am I okay? Do I have cancer?"

"No. Not cancer but definitely something."

"Well, what is it?"

Hailey paused the screen and pointed to it. "This mass right he—"

"Mass?!" Cat shrieked. "Oh god, it _is_ cancer, isn't it?"

Hailey sighed. "This mass right here is a water sac."

"A what?"

"No fuckin' way," Jade said.

"What?"

"Afraid so," Hailey said. "Cat, you're pregnant."


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! I've been really busy, but I finally got it finished and here it is!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER FIVE**

Two months later, Cat started getting nervous about going back to Hollywood Arts. She'd been doing independent study until she was completely caught up. Today Jade was over and they started talking about Cat being upset about the pregnancy, thus making her break down in tears.

"Cat… You had to have know that this was a possibility," she said.

"I _did_ ," Cat said. "I did, I just… I don't want the only possibility to be my brother. It's sick. It's demented."

"It's not your fault, hon…"

"I know, but still…" Cat was silent for a few seconds before Jade noticed the tears in her eyes.

Jade wrapped her arm around the read head, resting her own head against Cat's. It took a few seconds, but Cat finally broke down and started crying. Jade didn't know what to do except comfort her the best she could.

"It's going to be fine, Cat… I promise. I'll make sure of it," Jade said.

"You don't know that…" Cat sobbed.

"I'm telling you everything will be fine."

"What's everyone going to say? I'll be the talk of the town. Everyone at school is going to talk shit about me."

"No one at school is going to know because no one is going to say anything to anybody until it's absolutely necessary. And even when you start showing, you know you don't have to say a word to anybody. It's nobody's business," Jade said.

Cat let out a rack of sobs and shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know how to—to take care of a baby, Jade, I can't do this."

Jade hugged her, rubbing her back. "We don't have to worry about it for a while, okay? Let's go back inside and we'll have some bibble and—"

"I'm not allowed to eat bibble, I went through rehab," Cat reminded her.

"Okay, well we'll have some fat cakes and watch movies and stay up all night."

Cat sniffled and wiped her cheeks and nodded. "Okay…"

* * *

Cat sighed, walking into Hollywood Arts. It had been a while since she'd stepped foot into the building so it was a little weird and awkward for her. She walked slowly to her locker, trying her hardest to ignore the stares she was getting. She got what she needed out of the locker and went on her way to head to her first class, all the while hearing all the whispers.

 _"Oh my god, look at that baby bump."_

 _"She's pregnant?"_

 _"What was she thinking?"_

 _"I thought she was a virgin."_

 _"I knew she was a slut deep down."_

By the time she got to Sikowitz's class she had tears falling down her face, so she sat down quietly and wiped the tears from her cheeks, before holding her binder in front of her stomach. She was more involved in trying to keep herself looking more normal than pregnant when she was startled by Sikowitz.

"Cat!" he shouted, hopping off the stage and in front of the redhead.

Cat looked at him, worried. "…Yeah?"

"What is behind _that_?" he asked, pointing to the binder.

"Um…" Cat moved the binder slowly, pursing her lips together.

Sikowitz looked at her baby bump for a few seconds before patting it lightly. "It's nice to meet you, Cat's baby," he said before patting Cat's head. "It's nice to have you back, Cat."

Cat smiled. "Thanks…"

She felt eyes on her again. She hadn't told Tori, Beck, Robbie or Andre yet so she knew they were staring at her.

As soon as class was over, she was pulled to the side by Robbie and she leaned against the wall, biting her lip.

"What is it, Robbie? I'm not in the mood to talk," Cat said.

"Why did you keep this from me?" Robbie asked. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"Because… I didn't want you to think anything bad…"

"You did nothing wrong for this to have happened, Cat. You're my best friend—you can tell me anything."

"I know that, I just… I didn't want anyone else to know yet… I wasn't ever going to really just tell anyone "I'm pregnant" I was just going to let it pass by and… I dunno… I didn't want you to think I was a slut…"

Robbie took her face in his hands. "Caterina Valentine, you are _not_ a slut. You didn't do anything to deserve this. Nothing. Don't ever think otherwise."

Cat's eyes filled with tears and she looked away from him. "I don't know how to deal with it… I'm showing now, I can't hide it, and I can't just pretend it didn't happen," her voice cracked.

"There's no reason for you to pretend it didn't happen—it's your baby, Cat. I know you don't regret it."

"I don't, I just wish it was yo…" Cat stopped herself and sniffled. "I wish it wasn't my brothers…"

"Who were you about to say?"

She stared at him for a few seconds, shaking her head as she ducked under his arm to get away from the wall so she could start toward her next class. Robbie followed her and gently took her arm again.

"Cat," he said.

"Please let me go to class…" Cat said.

"Tell me."

Cat sniffled and looked at him for a few seconds. "…I wish the baby was yours."

Robbie looked at her for a few seconds. "Um… I—I gotta get to class…" he stammered before walking down the hall.

Cat watched him walk away and she slid down the wall, letting out a small sob.

* * *

"Cat."

Cat looked up, seeing Tori. She sniffled through a stuffy nose and covered her face with her hands as she let out a whine.

Tori sat next to her and moved her friend's red hair behind her shoulder. "Cat, what's going on?"

"I never do anything right…"

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" she looked at her. "I'm pregnant with my _brother's_ baby. My father and brother did terrible things to me and I _let_ them because I couldn't get away from it—I'm just as sick and twisted as they are, and Robbie's probably never going to talk to me again."

"Cat, what else could you have done? Fought them off? They're a lot more powerful than you; your best bet was to let them so it would be done and over with quicker."

"My baby is going to be fucked up in the head…"

Tori had never heard Cat curse before. It took her by surprise, but she wasn't going to focus on it. "Cat… none of this is your fault. I don't want to ever hear you say anything like that again."

Cat let out a sob and Tori pulled her into a hug, running her hand through the other girl's hair.

"Everything is going to be fine; I promise," Tori said.

As Tori held Cat, she rocked back and forth with her, trying to soothe her friend.

"Tori—" Cat started.

"Don't talk, just cry it out," she said.

"But I really need to—"

"You don't. I don't need you to explain anything to me. I'm here for you no matter what, I will never not be here for you and I—"

Tori was interrupted by Cat abruptly pulling away from her, but not before vomiting on both of them. It was gross, but Tori suspected that's what Cat was trying to tell her so instead of freaking out, she held Cat's hair back.

After a minute or two, Cat was okay and Tori was helping her stand up.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I should've listened," Tori said.

"I'm fine," Cat said with a raspy voice. "I'm sorry I threw up on you. I'm also sorry I threw up on myself because it's disgusting."

"It is, but it's alright. Let's go to the nurse. Maybe she'll let your Nonna bring you some new clothes."

"Good idea, I don't wanna wear pukey jeans for the rest of the day… We might need a janitor."

* * *

"Hey, Cat," Jade said, walking up to her and linking their arms together.

"Hi."

"Word in the halls is that you puked all over Vega."

Cat nodded. "Yeah. It was gross."

"It's priceless. Next time you need to puke, aim for Tori."

"No, it was messy," she said as they got to the asphalt café.

"Exactly. It'd be perfect," Jade said as they sat at their usual table.

"What would be perfect?" Andre asked.

"If Cat threw up on Tori."

"She already did that, thanks," Tori said, eating a French fry.

"I know. I told her she should do it again."

Tori rolled her eyes and she and Jade both looked at each other when they noticed Cat and Robbie look at each other just before Robbie got up and left with his food untouched.

"What was that about?" Tori asked.

"Who cares," Jade said, pulling Robbie's tray to herself and eating a fry.

"Things got weird for us earlier," Cat said.

"How weird?" Tori asked.

"Did he try to play pirates with you again?" Jade asked with a scowl.

Cat shook her head. "No… We were talking about the baby and I told him I'd rather the baby be his…"

"Oh," Tori said.

"Why in the hell would you want a child with that goofy doof?" Jade aked.

"Don't talk like that about Robbie, I like him… I'd rather this baby be anybody's rather than Max's..." Cat said.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Little Red," Andre said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You're gonna be a great mom and that little kitten is gonna be loved by all of us. It's coming into a good world."

"You guys would love it?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Beck asked. "Cat, you're our friend—we would never not love your baby, no matter how it was conceived."

"Or who it was conceived with," Jade said. "You're beating yourself up. You need to stop that. You'll stress yourself out and you'll just make yourself sick. And you need to work things out with Robbie."

"I don't know if I want to after he just walked away on me like he did…" Cat said.

"He'll come back around."

"Cat!" Trina said, walking to the table.

"Hi, Trina," Cat said.

"I heard you were back and I heard—and saw—the news. I just got back from lunch and I wanted to give you a little something," she said, holding out a small shopping bag to Cat.

Cat took the bag and opened it, letting out a small gasp as she pulled out what was inside. It was a pink ruffle dress for an infant. "Oh my gosh, I love it, Trina—thank you!" she said, standing up and hugging the older Vega sister.

"Now you just have to hope it's a girl—since she doesn't know what gender the baby is," Jade said.

"I don't care what this baby is; I'm keeping this until I have a little girl so I can put her in it. God, I wish it was my size, I would totally wear this," Cat said. "Thank you so much Trina, this is gonna be the first thing she wears."

"I thought you didn't know what it was yet," Andre said.

"I don't, but I really want it to be a girl… I don't know how to handle boys."

 _"Caterina Valentine please come to the office,"_ the intercom announced. _"Caterina Valentine please come to the office."_

Cat sighed and put the dress back in the bag, standing up from the table. "Wonder what I did now," she said.

"I'll walk with you," Trina said.

"I'll see you later, guys."

"Bye, be safe," Tori said.

"I'm walking to the office, I think I'll be alright," the redhead said with a laugh as she and the older Vega sister started walking.

"So, how are you adjusting to this whole thing?" Trina asked.

"To what, the baby?" Trina nodded. "Um… it still feels a little weird. I mean, I didn't imagine myself having kids at all, let alone getting pregnant at sixteen."

"I know how you feel. I felt the same way."

Cat looked at Trina for a few seconds. "…What? Were you pregnant?"

Trina nodded. "Yeah. The summer before you and the gang started school here. I had her a couple weeks before school started."

"Is that why you came back so late? Wait—why haven't we ever seen her? I'm at your house all the time."

"I didn't keep her. I gave her up for adoption."

"Oh… Well, there's nothing wrong with that. You gave her to a good family."

Trina sucked in a breath. "Yeah, I wouldn't say that. She's in foster care. They won't tell me what happened, but they did let me know she was in the system and said I could fight for her if I wanted to, but… it's a really tough decision. I love her more than anything, yanno, I just… I don't know if it's the right choice."

Cat nodded. "Do you want to, though? To get her back?"

"Honestly, I'm really thinking about it. It'll be like my second chance, but if I screw it up then I know she'd hate me for eternity."

"I don't think you'd screw it up. I think you'd be a great mom. You look after Tori like a mom would."

"Yeah, but Tori's my sister. Being a good sister and being a good mom are different. Different situations, different responsibilities."

"Well… if you get her back then I know you'll be fine. I think you'll do just fine. And you know, if our kids end up a little screwed up in the end, we can have weekly get togethers and drink wine and talk about how screwed we are because they have boyfriends we don't approve of," she said as they reached the attendance office.

Trina laughed and hugged Cat. "I'll look forward to it. Good luck in there, kid."

Cat walked into the office and went to the secretary's desk. "I was called in, I'm Cat Valentine."

"Oh… you have a friend here. She says it's important—you better talk to her," the secretary said. "She's in the principal's office, just go right on in."

Cat made her way to the principal's office door and walked in, closing the door behind her. She looked at the person sitting in a chair and immediately became concerned when she saw that the blonde was crying—which is something she'd never witnessed before.

"Sam?" Cat asked. "What… what's going on?"

"Caterina, there's been an incident at home," Helen said. "Sit down please."

Cat sat down next to Sam and looked at her for a few seconds before looking at Helen. "What happened?"

"It's your grandmother," she said as Sam held Cat's hand.

"What's wrong with Nonna?"

"She's in the hospital."

"What? Why?"

"She suffered a heart attack."

Cat's breath hitched in her throat, tears filling her eyes. "Is she okay?"

"We've been informed by the hospital that she's still having some complications—but she's alive and well," Helen said. "Your friend was the one to get the call from Elderly Acres."

"They found her in her room," Sam sniffled. "She wasn't breathing when they found her but they resuscitated her and got her to the hospital. They called me and I came here first, I didn't know what to do."

"You did the right thing, Sam," Helen said. "There's a police escort that's going to take you guys to the hospital to see your grandmother—but unfortunately because you're both minors they might not be able to or they might refuse to tell you anything about her condition. It's best to call the closest adult you know."

"I will," Cat said. "Can we go now?" her voice cracked.

"Go ahead. The police officer is in the attendance office."

* * *

"I don't care what your god damn policy is, she's my caretaker and I have every right to know what the hell is going on," Cat snapped at the registration nurse.

"Look, I'm sorry—but you're not 18. I can't tell you anything," the nurse said.

"The hospital is supposed to be helpful!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Yeah, I bet you are," she said, pushing a clipboard off of the counter and towards the nurse. "I'm not signing shit until you tell me what the fuck is going on."

"We can't tell anyone anything unless—"

"Cat?" a familiar voice asked.

Cat turned around, seeing Jade's mother. She felt new tears start falling down her face and she stomped her foot in frustration. "They won't tell me anything," she said with a sob.

Grace walked over to her and hugged her, kissing her head. "It'll be fine. You go sit down; I'll deal with this, okay? Jade came with me, go sit with her and the kids."

Cat sniffled and made her way over to the waiting room chairs, sitting next to Jade and laying her head on her shoulder, wiping her tears away from her cheeks.

"Do you know anything?" Jade asked.

"No… just that she had a heart attack. They won't tell me anything else because I'm not 18," Cat said, letting Tyler grab her finger.

"That's stupid. They don't know anything about being a human being."

"Cat, are you sad?" Joanie asked, climbing into Cat's lap.

Cat nodded. "Yeah, but I'll be okay when I know what's going on with Nonna."

"Is she sick?"

"A little bit."

"She won't die though right?"

"Joan Elizabeth," Jade snapped.

"It's alright," Cat said. "I don't know yet, Joanie. I hope not."

"Me too," Joanie said. "I don't want you to be sad."

"I'm gonna see if Mom got anything out of the nurse," Jade said. "Sit next to Cat, Joanie, she needs to hold Tyler."

As Joanie sat in the chair next to her, Cat took Tyler and kissed his cheek as Jade walked off. She watched him for a few seconds and smiled when he sucked on his fingers and babbled.

"Do your fingers taste good?" Cat asked.

Tyler babbled and looked at her with a grin, placing his hands on her cheeks, slobber and all.

Cat laughed and kissed his nose. "Are you hungry? Is that why you're eating your hands? Joanie, will you get in his diaper bag and get out his bottle, the water bottle, and the formula?"

Joanie got down from her chair and did what she was asked, placing everything on the chair. "Now what?" she asked.

"Fill the bottle up with water until you get to the number 6. Pour it slow so you don't make a mess," Cat said.

Joanie carefully poured the water into the bottle and put the lid back on the water bottle. "What now?"

"Put three scoops of the formula in it—but try to make it even, you don't want too much otherwise it'll be too hard to shake up the bottle."

Joanie did as she was told and screwed the nipple on the bottle, handing it to Cat and putting the water bottle and formula can back in the diaper bag.

"Thank you," Cat said, shaking the bottle up. As soon as she was done mixing the bottle up she handed it to Tyler and laid him down in her arms, staring at him as he closed his eyes and ate.

She didn't know how long she'd watched him sleep, but soon enough the bottle was empty and she laid him over her shoulder, patting his back to burp him.

"Jade said you're gonna have a baby," Joanie said.

Cat nodded. "I am."

"When will it be here?"

"In about five months."

"I think you'll be a good mommy."

Cat smiled and looked at Joanie. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Tyler always cries when he has to go to sleep for Jade. He never cries for you."

"Oh, that's just because Jade gets impatient and Tyler can sense it. Jade will be a good mommy when she becomes one too."

"Yeah I know. She takes care of me."

"She does. And she does it because she loves you, not just because she's your sister."

"Cat," Jade said as she walked back to the chairs. "Mom's going to go with you to see Nonna."

Cat handed Tyler to Jade and stood up, walking to Grace. "Is she okay?"

Grace nodded as they started walking. "She's alert but they're still running tests to see if there was anything specific that may have caused the heart attack."

"Probably that disgusting, artery-clogging food they serve at Elderly Acres."

"I wouldn't doubt it. But she's alright for right now and they'll let us know what the tests say soon."

Cat's mind wondered as they walked down the hall. She'd never been in such a scary situation. Even finding out she was pregnant wasn't as scary as her Nonna having a heart attack. It was quiet the rest of the walk and when they reached the room she was in and Cat saw that she was sitting up, she ran straight to her and gave her a hug, her tears finally falling.

"Oh my god Nonna, I was so scared," Cat's voice cracked.

Nonna kissed Cat's head and ran her hand through her granddaughter's hair. "I'm fine, Cat, it was just a little heart attack."

"Heart attacks are not little!" Cat said, looking at her grandmother. "Heart attacks _kill_ people Nonna, I thought you died—they wouldn't tell me anything about you and I was so scared that I lost you like I lost Mom and—"

"Cat, I'm fine. Calm down, I'm going to be fine. One of my arteries was blocked, but they removed the blockage in surgery and I'm _fine_."

"They did surgery? And they didn't tell me!"

"Cat, honey, calm down," Grace said.

"She could have—you!" she snapped, pointing at a doctor as he walked into the room.

"Uh… yes, me," the doctor said.

"Are you the one that operated on my Nonna?"

"I am."

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why wasn't I notified? I have every right to know what's going on with her—I'm not an infant, I understand more than people think I do and I—"

"Can I get a word in edge wise?" the doctor asked.

Cat scowled and crossed her arms. "Maybe."

"I don't make the decisions to not let the family know. I just find the problem and fix it. I have no say in the hospital policy, but I assure you I've been trying to fight it against the boards."

"Not hard enough, apparently."

"I'm sorry you weren't able to get any information earlier, but your grandmother is right there and she's fine, you have nothing to worry about," he said before turning to Nonna. "You're perfectly fine now that we removed the blockage. Everything came back clear, the EKG, the blood tests, everything. We'd like to keep you overnight to monitor your vitals, maybe another night as well, but you should be good to go home by Wednesday afternoon."

Nonna nodded. "Thank you, doctor. I'm very sorry about Cat; she's just worried."

"Don't apologize for me, I'm not sorry about being scared," Cat said.

"Very well then… I'll come back to check on you later," the doctor said before exiting the room.

"Caterina Evangeline Valentine, what is the reason for being so rude to an innocent man?" Nonna asked.

Cat turned around to look at Nonna. "It's all great that you're fine and dandy right now Nonna, but you _weren't_ when I was trying to get information. You _weren't_ okay when I first got here, you _weren't_ okay because they had to crack your chest open to unplug a block in your artery, you _were not okay_ ," she said before leaving the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

Cat adjusted to school pretty well. It was a few weeks into her return to Hollywood Arts and she was getting used to the slander and whispering right in front of her face. She still got stared at by some students. Actually, most of the students because she'd started wearing maternity clothes and her baby bump showed more—due to the clothes and because she'd grown a little. Nonna also got a lot better and was in good shape so she was returned to Elderly Acres.

Throughout this time, she and Robbie made up, but she felt like he was still nervous around her and she couldn't figure out why.

"Hey, Cat!" a bouncy blonde girl said walking up to her.

Cat stopped in her tracks. "Uh… hi."

"How are you?"

"I'm… good."

"Good. You know, there's this group my sister runs—it's specifically aimed toward troubled teens and she talks to all kinds of kids; abused, neglected, their parents hit them—"

Cat put her hand up to stop her and she smirked. "You _do_ realize that every single one of those this is just plain out abuse, right? They're just different terminologies."

"I _did_ know that, but I wasn't sure if you did or not because I know you're kinda flaky sometimes."

Cat stared at her and sighed. "I grew up."

"I can tell," the girl said, reaching out to touch Cat's stomach, only to get her hand slapped in the process. "Ow!"

"Don't touch me," Cat said. "Listen, I appreciate the offer for 'help' but I'm not a troubled teen. I'm a _pregnant_ teen, and it's not as uncommon as it seems. I don't need a support group, so tell your sister to take her offer and shove it up her ass—I'm not a fucking charity case, I'm a human god damn being," she snapped before walking past the blonde.

"Sounds like someone's getting bitchy," Jade said as she started walking beside Cat.

"Yeah well when you get confused for a troubled teen just because you're pregnant and get called stupid all in one minute you become a bitch."

"And you're cursing? Where has my innocent little Cat gone?"

"My brother took her when he planted his devil spawn."

Jade's face went from amused to almost heartbroken. "That baby is not going to be like Max. At all. Not whatsoever."

"You don't know that. My parents didn't know my brother would turn out so fucked up either, look what happened to him. He's not even in prison like he should be—he's in a fucking insane asylum and he gets off free. Dad's in prison—mom's in a safe house, but what does Max 'I Fuck My Sister For Fun' get? Fucking nothing."

"It'll get him in the end. Eventually."

"Eventually's not good enough for me. I want him hung. Or fried. Or tortured and beat—everything he did to me, he should have done to him ten times worse."

"Not that I don't agree with you on that, but that's not likely to happen, kiddo…"

"Cat," Robbie said, walking towards the girls.

"I'll see you at lunch," Jade said before walking the opposite direction.

Cat stopped where she was and looked at Robbie as he walked up to her.

"Hey," Robbie said.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling? The baby?"

"We're both fine."

"Can we talk?"

Cat nodded and immediately followed Robbie to Sikowitz's classroom, which was the nearest empty room. She bit her lip and sat on the stage next to him, looking at him for a few seconds before looking down at her hands in her lap.

Robbie took a deep breath. "Cat… I know this hasn't been easy for you…"

"What pregnancy is easy for a sixteen-year-old?"

"I know… I just…"

"What is it, Robbie? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just want you to know something."

"What?"

"I don't care whose baby this is," Robbie said, resting his hand on her belly. "You're my best and only girl and I'm going to be there for the baby. No matter what."

Cat looked at him for a few seconds. "You mean…"

"I'm gonna help you, Cat. I'm not going to let you do this on your own. We're a team. We're bringing another player onto the team in just a few months and I want you to know that I'll never leave. I'll be there for you and for him or her."

Cat's eyes filled with tears listening to his words. "You really are something else, Robbie…"

"I hope that's a good thing."

She nodded. "It is… I know I have the gang on my side, but… You're the one that I want to matter…"

Robbie took something out of his pocket and looked at it for a few seconds. Cat's eyes widened, watching his fingers hold the object carefully.

The curly haired teen turned his body towards her a little more and took her hand in his, slipping a small appropriately sized ring on her finger. "You don't have to say yes. You can think on it. But… I'd really love it if someday… you'd be my forever."

Cat blinked, tears falling down her cheeks as she stared at the ring before looking at him. "I… I would love that…"

"Yeah?"

She nodded, sniffling. "I would really, really love that… there's nothing else that would make me happier than to be your wife one day."

"So then…" Robbie asked, raising his eyebrows.

Cat nodded again. "Yes. I'll marry you."

Robbie placed his hand on her cheeks, kissing her gently. Cat wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips moved together. Neither of them heard the door open.

"Woah, what's going on in here?" Tori asked, causing them to break apart.

"Someone's making babies," Jade said.

"Can't make what's already there," Andre said. "Hey Little Red, how you feeling?" he asked.

"Okay, I guess," Cat said.

"Just okay?" Beck asked.

"No, more than okay, but…"

"We're getting married," Robbie blurted out, making Tori and Jade spit out their drinks.

"What?" Tori asked.

"To _that_?" Jade looked at Cat, pointing to Robbie.

"Well, not right away," Cat said. "Later, you know."

"Well, that's great," Tori said.

"Yeah, it's pretty snazzy," Andre said.

"I hope you two think this out," Jade said. "I know—you said not right now, but I mean, even an engagement is pretty big for teenagers."

"We know that," Cat said. "There's nothing to worry about, Jade."

"We'll take it slow," Robbie said.

"Really?" Jade asked. "Because you sure didn't take it slow with your engagement. You two weren't even dating two minutes ago and now you're getting married?"

"We've known each other for twelve years, Jade," Cat said.

"So what? This is the dumbest thing you've ever done besides getting pre—" the raven haired girl stopped herself, but Cat stood up from the stage with an angry expression.

"Since getting pregnant, is that what you were going to say?" Cat snapped. "Trust me, if it had been up to me, I wouldn't _be_ pregnant! And if I _had_ gotten pregnant, it would have been by Robbie, not my fucked up brother!" she shouted. "You support me with everything, but every time it comes to Robbie, you shoot everything down! I love Robbie more than anything and I don't give a shit what you think about him—you don't have to come to our wedding, but we're getting married eventually and if you're not going to be supportive of Robbie, then I don't want you to be supportive of me," she said before pushing herself past the group to leave the room.

* * *

Tori sighed, looking at Cat for a few seconds. "Cat, you can't just stop talking to Jade altogether."

"I can. I did," Cat said walking into Tori's kitchen.

"But it's wrong. You've been friends since you were in preschool."

Cat took a cup from a cupboard. "And she's been rude to Robbie since we were in preschool. I'm tired of it," she said filling it with water.

"Can't you just explain that to her?"

"I've told her several times I didn't like it when she talked bad about Robbie—she doesn't give a shit, so why should I?"

"Hey, watch that mouth," Trina said as she walked downstairs with a toddler on her hip.

Cat looked over at her and gasped. "Oh my god, no way—when?"

"Like, a month ago."

"Why didn't you tell me? Oh my god, she's the spitting image of you."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," Trina said, handing the little girl to Tori.

"I was wondering why there were sipper cups in the cabinet," Cat said sipping her water and walking back over to the couch, setting her cup on the table. "Hi, my name's Cat," she said to the little girl.

The toddler stared at her, not saying a word.

"Lacey," Tori said.

"Huh?" Cat asked.

"Her name's Lacey."

"Lacey. I like it. You have a pretty name, Lacey," Cat said.

Lacey buried her face into Tori's hair and Cat smiled.

"She's so little—how old is she?"

"Two."

"Gosh, I can't even with how cute she is. I can't wait for my baby to see if he or she will look like me."

"It will," Tori said. "You'll have the cutest baby in the world. She'll definitely have your good looks."

"Good looks," Cat said rolling her eyes. "Before I got pregnant I was chubby and nothing ever fit."

"You looked fine. You were healthy—and technically before you got pregnant, you were skin and bones. I don't ever wanna see you that tiny again. I thought the wind would just carry you off somewhere."

Cat sighed and leaned back against the couch, resting her hand on her growing stomach. "I just hope this doesn't compromise the wedding."

"It won't. You have years before you guys get married. Besides, our parents didn't get married until Trina and I were six."

"Who's getting married?" Trina asked, walking over to the couch and handing a sipper cup to Lacey.

"Cat and Robbie."

"What? When did this happen?"

"This morning," Cat said. "He said he'd always be there for me and for the baby and that he's going to help raise her and treat her like she's his… he won me over."

"You didn't even tell anybody that you loved him like that, what changed all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, really. I'd just never told anybody except him. I mean, before I got taken away from my parents we were kinda friends with benefits and we knew we liked each other and for me, I just… fell in love really fast. I guess he did too."

"Friends with benefits?" Tori asked. "Uh… are you sure the baby can't be Robbie's?"

"I'm positive."

"Using protection doesn't always prevent a pregnancy, Cat."

"Truth," Trina said.

"We never had sex," Cat said. "We fooled around. Never had sex. Our clothes never came off. I wasn't ready to give him my virginity."

"Well, technically—" Tori started.

"I know. But I wanted to be the one to give it away. It would have been my first time having sex. Being raped doesn't count."

"You're right, it doesn't," Trina said. "You'll give it to him when you're ready. It may have been stolen from you, but it's still your right to give it to who you want."

Tori stared at Trina. "When the hell did you start making sense when you talk?"

"I always make sense."

"No you don't," Tori and Cat said in unison.

Suddenly, someone's phone started ringing. The three teenagers each checked their phones and Cat sighed.

"It's Jade…" Cat said.

"Answer it," Tori said. "You can't stay mad at her."

"I can. I'm pissed at her. I support her and Beck; why can she support me and Robbie?"

"Maybe it's hard for her because now she has to share her best friend," Trina said.

"She's always with Beck, I don't complain about that."

"I don't even wanna know what those two do together," Tori said, shuddering.

"Jade's a virgin," Cat said as her phone started ringing again.

"Answer it."

Cat sighed and accepted the call before holding her phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Cat, I need you to come to the hospital," Jade said, panicked.

Cat stood up. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"It's Tyler—he had a seizure and Mom's in the room with him and I have Joanie and I'm freaking out, please come up," her voice cracked.

"Okay, I'm on my way—I'll be there soon," she said, hanging up and grabbing her car keys.

* * *

Cat walked into the waiting room as quickly as possible—which was pretty quick for someone that was six months pregnant. She looked around for a few seconds before seeing Joanie sitting in a chair next to Jade, who had her legs pulled up in her chair and her head rested on her knees.

The redhead made her way over to the girls and sat next to Jade, immediately pulling her into a hug.

Jade didn't even have to question who it was. She smelled a mixture of cinnamon, cotton candy and marshmallow—which was some weird concoction she and Cat discovered themselves by experimenting with things in the seventh grade.

The black haired girl wrapped her arms around her best friend and cried to her heart's content. Sob after sob racked her body, and she even heard and felt the redhead crying with her.

Cat was so close to the West family she considered Joanie and Tyler her brother and sister—whenever something happened with one of them Jade or Grace called her to let her know what was going on. She was only 10 years old when Joanie was born so she wasn't at the hospital, but when Tyler was born, she got to witness his birth with Jade and she couldn't be happier that she got to be part of something so beautiful. Jade's father missed all four of the West children's births. Jade also has an older brother who, aside from Cat, was Jade's only _real_ best friend.

Jade and her brother Travis were three years apart and they were the best of friends growing up. Travis even looked after Cat and she thought of him as a brother—more of a brother than Max ever was.

Cat and Jade pulled away from their embrace, but Jade still had tears streaming down her face. The redhead wiped her friend's tears away with her thumbs and tucked her black hair behind her ears.

"He's gonna be okay," Cat said as her voice cracked. "He's a strong little boy, he'll be just fine."

"You don't know that," Jade said with a sob.

"I do know that. We need to stay calm until Mom tells us what's going on—if not for ourselves and each other, at least for Joanie. We don't want to scare her."

"I'm scared, he's my baby boy, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him."

"This is not your fault, Jade… Seizures happen, he's going to be okay. You have to stay calm and hope for the best."

"What if the best isn't the best? What if it's terrible?"

Cat pulled Jade in for another hug, running her hand through her best friend's black hair. They stayed in their embrace until Grace walked over to them.

"What's going on? Is he okay?" Jade asked.

"They say he's fine," Grace said. "Apparently febrile seizures in infants is common."

"How do we keep them from happening?"

"There's medication. They aren't going to put him on anything yet, though. They say most kids outgrow them by five years, so they're going to release him and if he has another seizure then they'll put him on the meds."

"So he has to suffer another seizure because they won't make him better right now?"

"He's not suffering, honey. It didn't hurt him."

"Didn't hurt him? He was screaming the whole ride over here and the whole time I was holding him while they got him a room."

"He was scared, sweetheart. They're doctors; they know what they're talking about. I know you're scared but he's going to be fine. He can go home today, they're just going to check his stats and update his records," she said before looking at Cat. "Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling?" she asked hugging her.

"Good," Cat said.

"How's the little one?"

"Okay, I guess. Really active. I think I'm carrying a kangaroo."

Grace laughed and looked over at Joanie. "How long's she been asleep?" she asked.

"About an hour or so," Jade said.

"Alright. How about you girls take her out to the car and wait for me and Tyler? They said it would only be a few minutes, I just came out to tell you what was going on," she said, handing her car keys to Jade.

"Okay…"

Cat watched as Grace left down the hall and she stayed silent as she followed Jade out of the hospital, who was carrying Joanie. She couldn't help but worry about her own baby. The kid wasn't even born yet and she was terrified that something terrible would happen to him or her. She couldn't even say she was excited about the baby's arrival because she was so scared that he or she would be screwed up from the incestuous conception. Her OBGYN told her that there was nothing physically wrong with the baby that she could see, but that didn't help Cat calm down any. She was more worried about mental issues that her brother had.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Cat knew she'd probably get in trouble for it, but she ditched school today. It was Friday, so it wasn't like she was missing much. She figured since she was home, she might as well help Sam baby sit even though it wasn't her usual babysitting hours. She slightly regretted that decision though, because the children they were babysitting were terrible to watch. They were rude, they were annoying, and she prayed to God her baby wouldn't end up like that.

After hearing them fight over a stupid game system, Cat hoisted herself up from the couch and yanked the game cords out of the TV, earning glares from Max and Chloe.

"Hey!" Chloe said. "We were playing that!" she stomped her foot.

"No, you were not _playing_ it, you were _fighting_ over it and I'm tired of listening to your high pitched voices get higher and higher," Cat snapped. "Go find something else to do while I feed the baby. Something that _isn't_ annoying."

"You used to be the fun one," Max said.

"Yeah well, I grew up. I can't always be fun, now can I? Go do something else," she said as Sam walked into the house from the back porch.

As the kids walked past her and went outside, the blonde looked at Cat for a few seconds as the redhead got a jar of baby food from the fridge. "Sooo… Why are you being mean to kids?" she asked.

Cat furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm _not_ , they're just annoying the hell out of me—why do kids have to fight over stupid shit like video games? If they aren't both winning then they're pissed off at who _is_ winning, and the one that's winning rubs it in the one that's losing's face and they start yelling and screaming and I'm sick and tired of it—"

"Okay, I get it," Sam said, putting her hands on Cat's shoulders. "Feed the baby, calm your nerves."

"I'm working on it," Cat grumbled, spooning some of the baby food into Darby's mouth.

Sam sat on the couch. "So, when are you gonna tell me you're getting married?"

"When I'm damn good and rea—how did you know?" she asked, looking at the blonde.

"Um, there's an engagement ring on your finger."

"…I wasn't hiding it, I just forgot to tell you."

"Is it the nerdy dude?"

"Robbie," she corrected Sam as she gave Darby another spoonful of food.

"Why?"

"Sam."

"No, I'm generally curious. What is it about him that makes you want to marry him?" Sam asked, walking over to the redhead and taking the food from her, giving the baby another spoonful.

Cat smiled and shrugged. "Everything… He's smart, he's sweet, he's nice. He does everything he can for me, he know when I'm upset and he knows how to cheer me up, he holds me when I'm sad or cold or don't feel good, he supports everything I do even if he doesn't agree with it… he's just the greatest guy, yanno?"

"Sounds pretty special."

"He is. Don't you have someone like that?"

"My best friend. Carly. She does all that."

"It's nice to have best friends like that," Cat said. "What about that Freddie guy?"

"He's different. He's a dude."

"It's not different—he's your Robbie. Carly is your Jade—"

"No, I am _Carly's_ Jade."

"Yeah, you're both kinda mean."

Sam snorted. "Kinda."

Cat walked over to the couch and sat down. "Do you think you'll ever have kids?"

"No way. I don't like kids."

"But we're babysitters."

"It's an easy job. You do most of the work anyways."

That was true. Cat did do a lot more work babysitting than Sam did. She didn't mind it, though. She loved the kids so she did what she could to make sure they were taken care of to the best of her abilities.

Cat started playing on her phone but smiled when she got a text from Robbie.

 _ **Robbie:** Hey beautiful. How are you?_

 _ **Cat:** I'm good. Fat and lazy._

 _ **Robbie:** You're not fat; you're pregnant. And gorgeous._

 _ **Cat:** You're too sweet. Stop it._

 _ **Robbie:** Baby's doing good?_

 _ **Cat:** Yeah. Really good. Not making me sick._

 _ **Robbie:** I thought you didn't get sick anymore?_

 _ **Cat:** I do sometimes, it just depends on what I'm eating and whether he or she liked it._

 _ **Robbie:** I have a question._

 _ **Cat:** Okay. What is it?_

 _ **Robbie:** Wanna go to dinner tonight?_

 _ **Cat:** Sure. Where to?_

 _ **Robbie:** I was thinking Bots. It's a pretty cool place._

 _ **Cat:** I love Bots! The red one is always so mean… Kinda reminds me of Jade._

 _ **Robbie:** I like the blue one. So around 7?_

 _ **Cat:** Yeah sounds great._

Cat gasped, dropping her phone in her lap and placing her hand on her stomach. This got the attention of Sam, who stared at her for a few seconds.

"No, no, no, you can't already be in labor," Sam said.

"I'm not—the baby just kicked I think," she said lifting her shirt above her belly. She watched for a few seconds and saw her belly move, making her gasp again. "Oh my god! Look at this!"

Sam gave Darby the last scoop of food in the jar and picked him up from the high chair before walking over to the couch and sitting next to Cat. She watched Cat's stomach for a few seconds and her eyes widened when it moved again.

"Woah, that is some major kickage, kid," she said, patting Cat's stomach.

Cat picked her phone up and recorded her belly moving for a while before sending it to Robbie. She looked over to Sam, who was surprisingly playing with Darby by clapping the baby's hands together. Smiling, Cat took a quick picture and put her phone down before grabbing a diaper and wipes from a diaper bag on the coffee table.

"Someone needs a diaper change," she said.

"That's your territory," Sam said, passing Darby to Cat.

"Of course."

"I'll just go see how the kids are doing that you so kindly snapped at," she said standing up from the couch.

"They were annoying me. You say worse all the time," Cat said laying Darby on the couch.

"I'm allowed to, I'm Sam. You're sweet little Cat, you're nice. Stay that way."

Cat giggled and got Darby's diaper changed before the baby started rubbing his eyes. She lay down on the couch and laid the eight-month-old down in her arms, letting the little boy's belly rest against hers as Darby's head lay on her chest. She watched him slowly drift off to sleep as she patted the baby's diaper.

Every time she held a baby her heart just swelled with joy. Even before she got pregnant. She loved kids, but especially babies because they always loved with their heart instead of with their mind. They were innocent little people that had no reason to judge anyone and she loved that. Babies don't think she made bad choices. Babies don't think she's stupid. Babies don't think loving Robbie is gross or weird. Babies just love her and accept her because that's just how they are.

After a while, Cat ended up asleep herself and didn't wake up until she felt a sweet, sloppy, drooly kiss on her cheek. She opened her eyes and smiled, looking at Darby before running her hand over the little boy's head.

"Hey, sweet girl," she said. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"He did," Jade said, startling Cat.

The redhead tilted her head back just enough to see Jade sitting in a stool with Tyler in her lap, who was happily playing with his big sister's car keys.

"When did you get here?" Cat asked.

"About twenty minutes ago," Jade said.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you need the sleep. Besides, the baby was still asleep too. He woke up about five minutes ago."

Cat sat up carefully with Darby and ran her hand through her hair to get out any tangles. "You want a bottle, mister?" she asked, standing up.

"He was pulling at your shirt, I think he wants more than a bottle," Jade said, turning around in the stool and standing Tyler up on the counter, holding onto him.

"Yeah well if it was Tyler I'd totally do that, but I don't know Darby's mom like that so that's awkward and weird."

"And breast feeding a child that's not your own _isn't_ awkward and weird?"

"I'd do anything for Tyler, you know that," Cat said putting Darby in the high chair. "Besides Mom would totally be okay with it if need be. Hi Tyler," she said, kissing Tyler's cheek. "How you feelin', buddy?"

"He's been good. He hasn't had any more seizures but we're prepared if it does happen again."

Cat got a bottle out of a cabinet and was just finishing mixing up Darby's bottle when Robbie walked through the door.

"Hey Cat," he said. "Are you ready?"

Cat's eyes widened and she looked at the clock. "Oh my god! I—I fell asleep with Darby and I didn't know what time it is. I'm not ready yet, but Sam's not home yet and the kids are still here."

"We can wait or do it another night."

"Um…"

"Go get ready," Jade said. "I'll watch them until Sam gets back or their mom comes to pick them up. If she gets here before Sam I'll just say you guys had an emergency and asked me to take over until you got back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go get dressed. I got it," she said, taking the bottle from Cat and handing it to Darby.

"Okay… I'll be back."

* * *

Cat laughed as Robbie threw a french fry in the air to catch it with his mouth. He caught it, but he choked on it.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Robbie coughed and took a drink of his soda before nodding. "I'm good."

Cat snacked on the fries she had left on her plate and her eyes widened when she saw a Northridge girl that she used to be friends with. "Oh no…"

"What? Is it the baby?"

"No. It's Lindsay White."

"From middle school?"

Cat nodded just as Lindsay walked up to their table. "Cat Valentine and Robbie Shapiro. How'd I know you two would end up together after all?" she asked.

"Guess you could call it fate," Robbie said.

Lindsay smiled. "Sure. Fate. That's what it is," she said before turning to Cat. " _And_ you're having a baby? Or… are you just fat?"

Cat sighed. "I'm pregnant."

"How'd I know that would happen before graduation?"

"You said it would happen before 8th grade graduation, not high school."

"You still got knocked up."

"Not by choice."

"Oh so whose fault was it that you opened your legs and let Robbie tap it?" Lindsay turned to Robbie. "I can't believe you hit that to begin with, she was a slut in 7th and 8th grade."

"She wasn't and isn't a slut," Robbie said.

"Oh, she wasn't? Is that why she was hooking up with guy after guy?"

"I wasn't hooking up with anyone," Cat said.

"What do you call making out with every guy you got your hands on, then?"

"Making out?"

"And dry humping them?"

"Just a little friction action—look, I wasn't having sex in middle school. I wasn't you. So take you and your fake self away from my table before I do it for you. I'm tired of your shit, Lindsay."

"Are you gonna make me?"

"Cat," Robbie said shaking his head. "She's not worth it."

"She's not worth a lot of things, but it'd make me feel a whole lot better," Cat said.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lindsay said. "Everyone knew you were gonna end up a slut in high school. I bet that's why you go to that high class richy bitch school, isn't it? All the hot guys are there."

"The only rich bitch at our school is Jade West—who I'm sure you remember since she's the reason you had to have a nose job when you were twelve. Our school doesn't require a ton of money, all it requires is talent—which is something you obviously don't have since you failed your audition to get in," she said, smirking at the look Lindsay gave her. "Yeah, I was there. I was after you. I saw you walk away crying. Trina Vega has more talent than you do."

"And she's the most talentless person we know," Robbie said.

"Go on with your bad self, Lindsay. Call me names, shit talk me, do whatever. It makes you feel better about yourself. You know what makes me feel better about myself? Giving other people inspiration, thinking about how much joy and sweet memories my baby's going to bring as soon as he or she is born, spending time with my _fiancée_ , and doing what I do best—ignoring judgmental bitches like you."

Lindsay stared at Cat for a few seconds. "I hope your baby comes out retarded."

Cat got out of the booth and stood up, staring at Lindsay. "Say it one more time, I _dare_ you."

"Cat," Robbie said.

"I hope your baby comes out _retarded_. Did I talk too fa—"

Before Lindsay could finish her sentence, Cat gave her a good swift punch in the nose, sending the bratty blonde to the ground.

"Cat!" Robbie said, standing up.

"What the fuck, you psycho!" Lindsay said, standing up slowly. "It's no wonder you were sent to so many homes growing up!" she snapped before leaving the restaurant.

"I wanna go home," Cat said, walking the other way to exit the back of the restaurant.

"Cat," Robbie said following her. "Cat, hey," he said, finally taking her arm gently as they made it into the alley.

"What!"

"What the hell were you thinking? You don't just punch people, you're Cat, and you hate violence."

"She was asking for it."

"Cat, you can't let people bother you like that—you can't be fighting! Our baby is in there, if you make one wrong move or someone else doesn't _care_ that you're pregnant, it can get seriously hurt, Cat, you can't fight like that."

"I'm tired! I'm tired of being talked about! I'm tired of being known as the only pregnant girl! Trina has a kid too yanno, and no one ever talks shit about her!"

"That's because only us that go to Tori's house _know_ about her daughter, Cat… You cannot get in fights. That's not you, that's Jade."

Cat's eyes filled with tears and she let out a sob, running her hand through her hair. "I'm not as strong as I seem, Robbie—I'm broken on the inside and no one understands that. I'm mentally fucked up for the rest of my life, my heart is shattered because my own family betrayed me, my baby is probably going to have serious birth defects and I know deep down in my heart I should have had an abortion to keep it and myself from suffering, but I didn't have the heart to kill an innocent baby, even if it had been a better choice—"

"Abortion is _not_ a better choice for you, Cat. If you'd done that, you'd be a lot more screwed up in the head than you already are. You're perfect just the way you are, Cat, don't let some snobby prude's words ruin that for you…"

Cat wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest. "I want it to be like old times… No baby, no foster care, just me and you and the gang and flirting and kissing at dances and having weird dreams where kids eat me—I just want to go back to when I was happy…"

"You weren't happy back then," Robbie said, rubbing her back. "I've known you since we were four—you were a mess back then, you just never showed it… Look at me," he said, lifting her chin up. "You might be a little weird in the head and some people might think you're stupid or just a ditz, or people might think you're a slut, or that you're easy, or that you could find a better guy to marry… but the only thing that matters is that you know the truth about yourself and everyone else's opinion isn't important."

"Jade's opinion is important…"

"Okay, Jade's. But no one else's. Just yours."

Cat sniffled. "Just mine?"

"Just yours."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Cat closed her locker and turned around, running right into Sinjin. As soon as the awkward boy realized it was Cat, his eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry, Cat—" Sinjin started.

"It's fine. I'm alright," she said.

"Are you sure? I didn't hurt the baby did I?"

Cat shook her head. "No, there's quite a bit of padding surrounding her. I'm fine, really."

"Okay, well… sorry, again," he said before walking away.

Cat let out a small breath and walked down the hall, getting to Sikowitz's class just as the bell rang for kids to get to class.

"Cat!" Sikowitz exclaimed, making Cat jump. "Glad you're here. We have freshmen in this class this morning and you're gonna answer some questions for them."

"Me? Why me?" she asked, setting her backpack down in her chair.

"Because you're the student that's been here the longest and you know everything there is to know about my class."

"But, why can't you answer their questions?"

"Because I don't feel like it."

Cat giggled as the class started filling up. She walked over to the stage and sat down, rubbing her belly as she felt a small twinge, but didn't think anything of it as she thought it was just the baby kicking. She smiled when Robbie walked in and sat next to her. "Hey. You don't have Sikowitz right now," she said.

"I know, but I wanted to see you before lunch," Robbie said, kissing her lips.

"You're gonna be late to class."

"Nah, I asked to use the restroom."

"Why didn't you go before the bell rang?"

"I don't really have to go to the bathroom."

Cat grinned and kissed him. "I love you."

"No PDA in my classroom," Sikowitz said. "Robbie, get out."

"Yes, sir," Robbie said, kissing Cat's stomach before leaving.

The bell rang again and Cat stood up on the stage, rubbing her lower stomach again as she felt another twinge. "Sikowitz, what am I doing?" she asked.

"Answering questions—class! Start asking questions, Cat will answer everything you need to know," Sikowitz said, sitting on the stage with a coconut.

"Alright—who's got a question?" Cat asked. She pointed to a boy that raised his hand. "Yeah, you."

"Are you pregnant?" he asked.

"Oh my god, you don't just ask girls if they're pregnant," a girl said. "What if she's just fat?"

Cat furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not fat. I'm pregnant. That has nothing to do with this class." She pointed to a girl that raised her hand. "If it's a question about me, put your hand down."

"It's not—why is he always eating coconuts?" she asked.

Cat looked at Sikowitz and sighed. "He doesn't eat them, he drinks them… The milk gives him visions."

Cat grimaced a little and ran her hand over her stomach as she rested her other hand on her back.

"Um… are you okay?" the girl asked.

"Yeah… I'm good. Who else has questions?"

"What does the drive-by acting thing do to help us as actors?" a boy asked.

"Well, it's a spontaneous thing. If you're ever on set of a movie or TV show and something weird happens, it helps you n— _fuck_ ," Cat whispered to herself, holding her stomach.

"Cat, watch the language," Sikowitz said.

"Sorry," she said, letting out a breath.

"Are you okay?" a girl asked.

"Yeah. Baby kicks really hard these days… Any other questions?"

" Did you have to do the sleepover at Sikowitz thing?" a boy asked.

Cat giggled and nodded. "Yeah. I lost. I went on a date with his nephew instead," she said.

"How hard is it?"

"I dunno. It wasn't really hard. You just get assigned a character and have to stay in character the whole time you're at Sikowitz's house. He'll kick you out if you break character."

"How did you break character?"

"I just gave up on it. I wanted to go out with a hot guy instead."

"Is that how you got pregnant?"

Cat grinned as the class laughed and she shook her head. "No," she said. "Absolutely not. Uh—Sikowitz, can I use the restroom?"

"Go ahead, no peeing in my classroom," Sikowitz said.

Cat giggled and she got down from the stage, walking out of the class. As soon as she was in the hallway, she let out a sharp breath, resting her hand on her stomach as she felt a twinge just like earlier, but this time it was stronger and definitely not the baby kicking. She looked down the hall, thinking of which of her friends was closer. As soon as she remembered, she walked down to the first classroom and opened the door, catching the attention of the students and teacher.

"May I help you, Cat?" the teacher asked.

"I need Trina. _Now_."

"Cat, we're in the middle of a class."

"It's really important, Mr. Barker, please."

Mr. Barker sighed. "Go ahead Trina, but I'm only giving you five minutes."

Trina sprang up from her seat and closed the door behind her. "What's going on? Is something wrong with Tori?" she asked.

"No, it's me," Cat said as tears sprang to her eyes.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I think I'm going into labor," her voice cracked.

"Already? You're over a month away from your due date. What makes you think you're in labor?"

"I keep getting these weird feelings in my stomach, and I know it's not the baby kicking—it's like, like a tightening feeling and it's starting to hurt."

"Oh my god—Cat, you're having contractions. When did this start?"

"This morning, about forty-five minutes ago."

"We have to get you to the office so they can call an ambulance."

"What? No! No ambulance, Trina—it's not that bad."

"You're over a month from your due date and you're having contractions, this is serious. You _need_ to go to the hospital and have your labor progression stopped."

"Trina—"

Trina grabbed Cat's arm and started pulling her down the hallway. Cat sighed and gave up, following Trina, but then stopped in her tracks, letting out a loud groan as she almost doubled over. Trina stopped and held Cat up the best she could.

"Are you having a contraction?" Trina asked.

Cat nodded and let out a sob. "It hurts—please make it stop," she said.

Trina helped Cat sit down against the lockers and she kneeled in front of her, feeling around on her stomach. "God, you're as hard as a rock. I think this is real labor, Cat; I really need to go get somebody to call an ambulance. I promise I'll be right back and I'll get Robbie and Jade. Will you be okay by yourself for a couple minutes?"

"Yes, just please hurry…"

As Trina ran off, Cat ran her hand over her stomach and let out a sob. "Come on, baby girl, calm down…" she said to her stomach. "You're not ready yet; you still have to cook a little bit longer. I promise it'll be worth the wait, just please settle down, you can't come out yet…"

"Cat!"

Cat sniffled and looked up, seeing Tori running towards her. "I'm fine—I'm okay," she said.

"I ran into Trina on my way to the bathroom—what's going on? Are you in labor?" Tori asked.

"I don't know. I just know I'm getting really weird cramps and I have a lot of pressure in my vagina. I feel like I'm dying."

"That's what Trina said when she was in labor," Tori said, chuckling at the memory. "You're still a month away from your due date, I'm sure you're just getting those fake contractions."

"They feel pretty real to me, Tori."

"I know—just calm down, okay? Don't stress out, it's only going to make it worse."

"I can't help it, she's not ready—it's too early," Cat said with a sob.

"I know. I know, and you know what? She's gonna be just fine, you're gonna be fine, everything is gonna be okay."

"I'm scared, Tori, what if— _fuck_!" she snapped, grabbing her stomach. "Oh my god, stop, stop, stop…"

Tori rested her hand on Cat's stomach, gasping slightly at the feel of it. "Oh my god Cat, your stomach is as hard as a—"

"Rock, I know—shit…"

"Do you still have pressure? Is it getting worse? Getting better?"

"Worse. It's really bad, I don't know what it is and I feel really sick to my stomach."

Tori took her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through it for a few seconds. "Okay, it says here that nausea is perfectly normal during labor—it's the pain that's making you feel sick and—" she looked up at Cat, hearing her gag. She immediately took her book bag off her shoulder and dumped everything out onto the floor before opening it and holding it up to Cat's chin just seconds before the redhead started vomiting. The small Latina held Cat's hair back the best she could until she was done, and she placed the book bag a little bit away from them before looking at Cat and moving her friend's hair out of her face. "Are you alright?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah… Sorry about your bag, there's no cleaning that."

"It's fine. Anything for a friend. Really."

"Tori, what if…"

"Nothing is going to happen, Cat… you're gonna be fine, okay?"

Cat sniffled and squeezed her eyes shut, letting her head rest against the lockers. "Is this a bad time to say I have to pee really bad?" she asked.

Tori chuckled. "Well, as much as we both don't want you to pee your pants, you're in no condition to stand up or walk right now, so do your best to hold it."

"I'll try, but you know pregnancy bladder."

"I do. Trina peed her pants a few times when she was pregnant with Lacey. It was pretty hilarious."

"Cat!" Robbie exclaimed, running over to her with Jade right behind him.

"Robbie… I'm scared," Cat said.

"I know. You're gonna be fine, Trina's talking to the principal and the nurse is calling an ambulance, they'll be here in no time."

"How do you feel?" Jade asked. "Pain, pressure, anything?"

"Pain, pressure, puking, all the works," Cat said.

"Pressure where? Back, stomach?"

"Vagina. Like, really bad."

"The baby might be working its way down. It's gonna be alright, Mom had all the same stuff happen."

"It's getting worse—I don't know what it is, but I have a really bad urge to push and it's taking everything I have not to."

"Okay, don't push. No pushing, not right now."

"I need to do something; this pressure is fucking killing me…"

"Miss Valentine, watch your language," Principal Dickers said as he and Trina arrived with the nurse.

"Dude, she's in labor, I think she should get a slip on the bad words," Jade said.

"Cat, how are you feeling?" the nurse asked.

"I feel like a watermelon is trying to escape from my vagina," Cat said.

The nurse felt Cat's forehead with the back of her hand and she pulled out a blood pressure cuff from her first aid kit. "I'm gonna check your basic vitals so the ambulance doesn't have to waste time doing it, okay?" she said, wrapping the cuff around Cat's arm.

"I'm starting to get another contraction."

Jade took Cat's hand in hers. "You squeeze my hand off if that's what it takes, but do _not_ push."

"No pushing," the nurse said. "Breathe through it the best you can, okay? Everything's gonna be just fine, the ambulance should be here any minute."

"Is there anybody else I should call, Cat?" Trina asked.

"Nonna and Sam," Cat said. "Ow…" she said, squeezing Jade's hand.

"You're okay, breathe," Jade said, tucking Cat's hair behind her ear. "Keep it calm and steady, it's alright."

"I'm gonna throw up," she said, hiccupping.

Tori grabbed her book bag as quickly as possible and held it under Cat's chin again, just barely in time before the small redhead started vomiting again.

"I'm gonna call 9-1-1 again, the ambulance is taking way too long," Trina said.

Robbie knelt next to Cat and wiped sweat off of her forehead, holding her other hand. "It's gonna be alright, Cat. Everything will be perfect just as soon as everything gets calmed down."

"Robbie, this baby is over a month early—she can _die_ this early, everything is not fine," Cat said.

"Cat, do you still have pressure in your vaginal area?" Trina asked.

"Yeah—and I'm starting to get pain and burning."

"She still has the pressure and she's feeling a little pain and burning—could she be crowning?" Trina stayed silent for a few seconds and looked at Cat. "We have to check to see if you're crowning, Cat. Tori, Jade?"

"On it," Jade said, helping Cat scoot forward. "Robbie, get behind her so she's not laying on the floor."

As Robbie sat behind Cat and let her lean back on him, Tori threw her book bag in the trashcan before making her way back over to them and kneeling next to Jade. "What do we do?" Tori asked.

"Cat, I have to take your panties off, okay?" Jade asked.

"I thought you didn't like the word 'panties'."

"I don't, but Cat refuses to acknowledge them as underwear," she said, pushing Cat's dress up. "Take off your jacket so we can put it under her. I don't want her naked on this floor."

Tori took her jacket off and as Jade helped Cat raise her hips, she slid the jacket underneath Cat's bottom, spreading it out evenly. Jade carefully but quickly took off Cat's underwear, sighing as Cat kept her legs together.

"Cat, I have to check," Jade said.

"It's embarrassing," Cat sobbed.

"Listen, no one here is worrying about that right now; we're more concerned about you and your baby. Please work with me here. Spread your legs," she said.

Cat slowly moved her knees apart, but Jade pushed them apart in agitation. "Okay, she's not crowning. She looks pretty normal," Jade said. "But, we don't know if she's dilated or not—Trina, ask them if I know how to check to see if she's dilated if I can or if I need to wait."

"She's not crowning," Trina said into the phone. "But, we have someone here that knows how to check her dilation—is it alright if she does that?" She was silent for a second and then nodded. "Go ahead, Jade."

"You got gloves in that first aid kit?" Jade asked the nurse.

"I do, help yourself," the nurse said. "Blood pressure's a little high, but that's just because you're so worked up. Try to stay calm, alright?" she asked. "Where'd you learn to be so helpful during labor?" she asked Jade.

"My mom's an OBGYN," she said, sliding some latex gloves on. "Okay Cat, this is gonna hurt… does anybody have any sort of lube?"

"…We don't just carry sexual pleasure items, Jade," Robbie said.

"Any kind will work—anything slick. It'll make it easier to get in there and feel around."

"Will baby oil work?" Tori asked, holding up a bottle of baby oil.

"Perfect."

Tori handed the bottle to Jade, who poured a little of the oil on one of her gloves.

"Okay, Cat. I'm going in," Jade said.

"Please don't hurt me…" Cat whimpered.

"I can't help it, I'm sorry."

As Jade inserted her fingers into Cat, the redhead whined. "Jade…" Cat said.

"I know. I'm sorry. Just a minute, I have to feel around," Jade said.

"Ow… Jade, you're really hurting me, please stop."

"I know Cat, but I wanna be sure—Vega, get my phone out of my back pocket and call my mom. Tell her to get to the hospital so we can meet her there."

"Sure," Tori said, getting Jade's phone out of her pocket.

"I'm almost done Cat, I promise—I just don't want to be wrong."

Cat let out a sob, squeezing Robbie's hand. "Jade, please—"

"Caterina."

The redhead whined and leaned her head back against Robbie's chest, who kissed her head.

"It'll be over in a minute," Robbie said, running his hands over her arms.

"Okay," Jade said, removing her fingers. "I'm done. You okay?"

Cat sniffled and nodded as Jade took the gloves off. "Trina, tell them she's anywhere from two to four centimeters dilated and her water hasn't broken yet," Jade said.

Trina nodded and started speaking on the phone as Jade put Cat's legs down and looked at Tori.

"Vega, take off your jacket," she said.

Tori looked at her confused for a few seconds but took her jacket off and handed it to Jade. "Your mom said she's on her way to Cedar Sinai right now, she'll get there before us."

"Good," Jade said, pulling the hem of Cat's dress down before draping Tori's jacket over her lap. "The ambulance is gonna be here soon, Cat—just stay calm. Everything's gonna be fine, okay?"

"I'm getting a contraction, Jade—I can't do this, I can't have this baby right now," Cat said, sobbing.

"Your water hasn't broken yet, they can stop your labor. It's gonna be fine," Jade said. She couldn't say whether she believed herself or not, though.

* * *

"How you feeling, Cat?" Grace asked.

Cat shrugged. "Better. I'm just glad my contractions stopped. They were killer."

"Well, thankfully it was just false labor. You're gonna stay overnight for observation. I'm gonna stay on duty until you're released, and then you're coming home with me and Jade and staying with us until the baby is born and you're all situated with her."

"Oh no, I couldn't—I'll be just fine at home with Sam."

"No offense, but Sam's not a mom. Or a doctor. I am. There's no debating on this. I already talked to your Nonna and she agreed that since you can't stay at Elderly Acres with her that coming home with us would be best. Just until you get the hang of things with the baby. Then you can go back home."

Cat sighed and laid her head back on her pillow.

* * *

Two weeks later, Cat walked into Sikowitz's class room, closing the door behind her quietly, but she pursed her lips when everyone turned and looked at her. "…What? Can I help you? Take a picture," she said, sitting in her seat.

"You aren't supposed to be here, you're supposed to be sleeping all day at home," Sikowitz said.

"I'm allowed to come to school, there's not much walking involved and all of my teachers gave me the okay to take my time and not worry about being late."

"Alright then."

"Are you really supposed to be here?" Tori whispered.

"Yeah. I got the okay from my doctor. Just no extensive activities."

"How's the baby doing?"

"Really good. I'll be glad when she's out, though."

"Trina was the same way. You wanna come over after school? Kick back, relax, play some cards?"

"Sure. As long as I can get a ride home."

"Trina can take you home."

"Okay."

 _"Caterina Valentine to the nurse's office,"_ the intercom said. _"Caterina Valentine to the nurse's office."_

Cat sighed and stood up, picking her backpack up, but Tori took it from her.

"I'll bring it to next period," Tori said.

"Thanks."

"Have a safe trip, Cat," Sikowitz said. "Don't have the baby on the way."

Cat giggled. "I'll try not to," she said before leaving the room. She made her way to the nurse's office and wrote her name down on a clipboard.

"Can I help you, honey?" the nurse asked.

"I was called up here, I'm Cat Valentine."

"Oh, right, okay."

"What was I called up for? I don't feel sick."

"Well, we got a note from your doctor to keep an eye on your blood pressure and blood sugar and to make sure your little one's heart beat sounds good."

"My doctor?"

"Doctor Grace West."

Cat rolled her eyes. "Of course she did."

After the nurse made sure everything was fine, Cat was released to go back to class. On the way, she saw a familiar face and her eyebrows furrowed as she stopped in her tracks.

"…Cat?" the woman asked.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just about to go to the attendance office—I have a job interview."

"And it just so happened to be a coincidence that it's at _my_ school."

"Cat, please don't start…"

"Don't start what? Don't start telling you how horrible you are? How you deserted your family? How you're cold hearted? I can go on."

"Caterina Evangeline Valentine, I did not raise you to act like this."

"You didn't raise Max to rape me either and that still happened. You didn't raise me at all. You let those lowlifes do whatever the fuck they pleased because _you_ knew that if they weren't beating me, they'd do it to you. I would sacrifice my life for my child, but you—you just let shit happen to me. You didn't try to stop it, not once. Even when you had the chance, you didn't call the cops. Because you didn't do anything about it, I didn't know any better than to let them."

"Cat, that's not true."

"The fuck it's not!" she shouted, her voice echoing in the halls.

"Keep your voice _down_ ," she said.

"Why? Because you don't want anybody to know what a bad mother you are? They already know the rest of my life story, might as well know how shitty my mother was too!"

"I said keep it down, Caterina."

"Stop calling me that! It's Cat! I don't go by Caterina!"

"It's your _name_."

"Cat?" Trina's voice called from around the corner. As she turned the corner, she quickly made her way to the redhead. "Are you alright? I thought I heard your voice—oh, hello," she said, looking at Cat's mother.

"Hi."

"Is everything alright?" Trina asked looking at Cat.

"Everything's fine, dear—thank you for checking on my daughter."

"Oh, you're Cat's mo—"

"No," Cat interrupted. "She's not my mother. She thinks she is, but she's not."

"That is enough, Caterina," Mrs. Valentine said.

"It's not! You don't get it! You didn't do _anything_ to help me!"

"I did what I could."

"Which was nothing? Because you didn't stop anything from happening, I thought it was _okay_ for my brother to molest me! I thought it was okay for my father to push me against walls and take me like I was some harlot he paid to spend the night with! I thought it was _okay_ to be _raped_ and _beat_! I didn't know any better because you didn't do anything to help me!"

"You know what," Trina interrupted. "I'm sorry Mrs. Valentine, but this is not the appropriate place for this conversation, and Cat really needs to get back to class. You can find your way to the office or out the door."

"We're talking about this later, Caterina," Mrs. Valentine said, walking past them.

Trina ran her hand over Cat's arms and lifted the girl's head up to wipe her tears away. "Listen—don't worry about her, alright? I know things are tough right now, but they're gonna get better. Tori and I have had some issues with our mom too."

"Yeah, but your mom cheated on your dad, she didn't let your father or brother hold you down and have sex with you against your will," Cat's voice cracked.

"I know. I know it's not the same situation, and I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that. No one ever should. It's a crappy way to live, but that's not your life anymore."

"I know it's not, but it still hurts."

"I'm sure it does. How about we calm down and then go back to class?"

Cat nodded and sniffled, pushing her hair out of her face. "What are you doing out here anyways? You don't have Sikowitz."

"I was in English. I thought I heard you, I asked if I could come check on you."

"Well, thanks. If you hadn't come when you did, I would've given her a new face."

Trina laughed and wrapped an arm around Cat's shoulders. "Well, I would've cheered you on. You ready to get back to class?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

"Ew!" Cat shrieked as a mini corndog hit her in the head. "That's so gross, Andre," she said.

"Sorry, Lil Red," Andre said.

Cat leaned against Robbie, laying her head on his shoulder as she ran her hand over her stomach. "She won't stop moving…"

"Well, that's good. We know she's okay," Robbie said, placing his hand on her stomach. "Hi, baby girl."

Jade smiled and leaned to Beck. "Maybe we can have a baby girl of our own," she said, resting her chin in her palm. "If Cat here can do it, anybody can."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat asked.

"You've been through a lot. If you can handle everything you went through and a pregnancy then anybody can do it."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good, baby girl."

Cat smiled and popped a chip in her mouth. "You know, she's starting to recognize my voice. If she's too active for me to sleep, I just sing to her and she calms right down."

"You have a pretty voice, she likes it," Tori said. "Are you getting nervous about her coming?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah… Really nervous."

"Well, don't be. You can handle it," Trina said.

"I hope so."

"You'll be alright," Robbie said. "I'll make sure of it."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and everyone stood up and spread out as Robbie helped Cat stand up.

"Good?" Robbie asked.

Cat nodded. "Yeah. I'll be glad when I don't need help getting up anymore," she said as they walked, their fingers laced together.

"It'll be sooner than you think," he said as they walked into the building. "You sure you feel okay to go to class? You don't wanna take the rest of the day off and go home to rest?"

"I'm fine, babe."

"Alright. Well, let's get you to class then. How are your grades?"

"Good. A's. I was put on the principal's list aga—ow…" she said as she stopped walking and rested her hand on her lower abdomen.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so… I think she just kicked really hard."

Cat let out a slow breath, but then squeezed Robbie's hand. "Ow…" she said.

"Cat…" Robbie said.

"I'm fine."

"You said 'ow' twice in less than ten seconds."

"I'm fine," she said. "Let's just get to class."

"Do you want me to skip English? I'll sit with you in your class."

"No. Beck's in my next class, I'll just ask to sit with him in case it happens again. I'm sure she's just kicking."

"Alright… If you're sure."

Fifteen minutes later, Cat was writing the assignment on the board down in a notebook, but she let out a breath and put her pen down, tightly holding onto the edge of her desk. Beck noticed and looked at her for a few seconds before running a hand over her back.

"Cat? You okay?" Beck asked.

"I think so… It happened earlier too, I think she's just kicking."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said raising her hand. "Mrs. Stevens?"

"Yes, Cat," the teacher asked.

"Can I use the restroom?"

"Go ahead."

Cat got up and slowly started her way out the door, but she stopped in her tracks and gasped loudly as a gush of water landed on the floor around her feet, grabbing the attention of the whole room. Beck's head whipped around and as soon as he saw the water on the floor he got up quickly and made his way to her side.

"It's time," Cat said. "Oh my god, it's time, the baby's coming, it's time."

"It's time," Beck said. "It'll be alright."

"Alright, everyone file out, be careful where you step," Mrs. Stevens said.

As the class slowly left the room, Beck helped Cat sit down in a chair and he knelt in front of her, holding her hands in his. "It's gonna be fine, Cat," he said.

"I'm still early, Beck—I can't have this baby right now," Cat's voice cracked.

"You're only a week away from your due date, you'll be fine, I promise."

"I'll call the principal and let him know what's going on. Are there any students here that need to be notified?" Mrs. Stevens asked.

"Robbie Shapiro and Jade West."

"Ow…" Cat groaned.

"It's okay. Breathe," Beck said.

"I'm getting that feeling."

"What feeling?"

"I need to push."

"No, don't push. Mrs. Stevens, can we pull the shade on the window of the door? I gotta check and see if she's alright or not, she thinks she needs to push."

Mrs. Stevens nodded and crossed the room as she talked on the phone and the shade was pulled down as Beck took his jacket off.

"Are you gonna be okay with me checking you out? The ambulance is gonna need to know your situation," Beck said.

Cat let out and grunt and squeezed Beck's hand. "I don't care, I just need her out."

"Stop pushing, Cat," Beck said, pulling Cat's pants and underwear off carefully and draped his jacket over her legs so she'd have a bit of decency. "I'm gonna look now, okay?"

Cat nodded and let out a sob. "I can't hold on forever, Beck, she's coming way too fast."

Beck pushed the jacket up and pulled Cat's legs apart, his eyes widening. "Oh my god."

"What? What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"Fine. She's just coming. Now. Mrs. Stevens, she's not gonna make it to a hospital, we need at least Robbie right now."

"I'm on it, Beck—Cat, you hang in there okay?" Mrs. Stevens said.

"I have to push Beck, please," Cat said with a whine.

"Okay. Okay, slowly. Push slowly," Beck said.

Cat pushed as lightly as she could and Beck put his hand up.

"Stop, stop pushing," Beck said. "Mrs. Stevens, we need someone in here _now_."

"I'm working on it—how's she doing?" Mrs. Stevens asked.

"The baby's head is coming and she's having a hard time not pushing."

Robbie and Jade came through the door a few seconds later and Jade knelt next to Beck.

"How's it looking?" Jade asked.

"Crowning. A lot," Beck said.

"God… okay, Cat—how bad is the urge?"

"Really bad, I have to push, I need to get her out, Jade," Cat said with a sob.

"Okay. Let's have a baby, then."

"What? Right now? Right here?" Robbie asked.

"Right here, right now. Beck, you keep it up, I'm gonna call my mom," Jade said, dialing her mother's phone number.

"Ow…" Cat whined.

Robbie knelt next to her and held her hand. "It's gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be okay, Cat. We're just having a baby."

"We're having a baby…"

"We're having a baby."

"Oh my god, we're having a baby," Cat said between a laugh and a sob.

"Push, Cat," Jade said before turning her attention back to the phone.

"Alright, the principal is calling an ambulance—what are you doing? Why is she pushing?" Mrs. Stevens asked.

"This baby's not gonna wait, we have to get her out," Beck said.

"I don't think that's wise, you kids have no idea what you're doing."

"My dad and Jade's mom are obstetricians; we have enough common sense to deliver a baby."

"Alright Cat, push," Jade said. "Mom's on her way with her instruments."

"Ready to have a baby?" Robbie asked.

Cat nodded and looked at Jade with teary eyes. "Jade…"

"You're gonna be fine. The baby's gonna be fine, you're in the safe zone. Now, let's have us a baby, yeah?" Jade said with a smile.

"Let's have a baby."

"Push."

Cat took a deep breath and pushed, letting out a groan. "Ow…"

"Keep pushing. You're doing really good."

"Come on, Cat, her forehead is coming, her head's almost out," Beck said.

The redhead let out a guttural grunt and she tightened her grip on Robbie's hand. She felt a sudden relief in pressure and gasped, breathing heavily.

Beck's hand pressed against her middle and looked at her with serious eyes. "Don't push. Breathe through the urge."

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Cat asked.

"Breathe."

"Is something wrong?"

"Just breathe, Cat," Jade said, standing up. "Robbie, come here," she said, walking to the other side of the room.

"What's going on? Is the baby okay?" Robbie asked in a hushed voice.

"She'll be okay, it's just that the cord is wrapped around her neck and I don't want to scare Cat. We might have to wait until my mom gets here to do anything about it, and I'm not sure we have enough time to wait. We need to find something to get that cord cut."

Robbie's eyes watered and he looked over at Cat, but Jade turned his head back to face her. "Don't look at her, she'll know something's up if you're crying. Calm down, it's gonna be fine," Jade said.

"We can't lose this baby," Robbie's voice cracked in a whisper. "She's gone through too much to lose this baby."

"You're not gonna lose her. She will be fine, I promise you that. Do you have anything that can cut a thick cord?"

"Uh… fishing line! What about fishing line?"

Jade raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "That would be perfect, hand it over."

Robbie reached into his jacket and handed her a spool of fishing line.

Jade walked back over to Beck and unraveled the fishing line just as he managed to slip the umbilical cord over the baby's head.

"Don't need it, I just got it," Beck said, unwrapping the second layer. "Keep it so we can cut the cord when she's out."

"How you doin', baby girl?" Jade asked, looking at Cat.

"I need to push, please let me push," Cat said with a sob as Robbie held her hand.

"Go ahead, Cat," Beck said.

As Cat pushed, Jade flipped Beck's jacket over on Cat's lap so the inside of it was laying up. Jade rubbed Cat's thigh soothingly as she let out a sharp breath. "It's okay, Cat. One shoulder is out, you gotta keep pushing to get the other out and then you'll have your baby."

"Kids, the ambulance is on its way," Mrs. Stevens said. "How's she doing?"

"Baby's almost here," Beck said. "Push, Cat."

Cat pushed, letting out a sob. As she screamed, Beck gave her a wide smile and help up a newborn baby girl, cuddling her to his chest as Jade covered her mouth with teary eyes.

"She's here," Beck said, handing the screaming baby to Cat.

Cat let out a rack of sobs, holding the baby to her chest. "Oh my god, she's perfect," her voice cracked.

"You did it," Robbie said, kissing her head.

"We just had a baby."

"I'm so proud of you," Jade said as her voice shook. "You did so good, Cat. You did _so_ good."

"You think so?"

"I just witnessed it, I know so."

Cat sniffled and stared at the baby for a few seconds, rubbing her back before looking at Beck and Jade. "You guys are the best friends anybody could ever have. I really couldn't have done this without you. Thank you so much, Beck…"

"Hey, I'd do anything for you. We've been besties since 8th grade," Beck said. "I'll deliver all the babies I have to for you. Let's get baby cleaned up real quick, yeah?"

Cat nodded. "Okay."

Jade carefully took the baby from Cat as Beck took his shirt off and started to wipe the baby off with it.

"Hey, pretty girl," Jade said. "You'll be warm in a few minutes, Auntie's not gonna let you freeze," she said, kissing the baby's cheek.

There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Stevens opened the door as Grace raced in.

"I'm here, how dilated is she?" she asked.

"She's not," Robbie said.

"What? Jade said she was in labor."

"She was," Jade said, shifting a little so Grace could see the baby. "She's here."

Grace covered her mouth and knelt next to Jade. "Oh my—Cat, she's beautiful."

"Isn't she?" Cat asked.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you," she said, getting up and sitting next to Cat, giving her a hug. "Oh my gosh… one of my little girls is a mommy…"

"That makes you a grandma," Beck said with a smirk.

"Oh stop it," she said, pushing Beck's shoulder playfully.

Beck took the baby from Jade and wiped her face off with his shirt gently, before placing her on his jacket in Cat's lap and wrapping her up the best he could. "Her placenta hasn't delivered yet and we still need to cut the cord and suction her throat and nose. Other than that, she looks practically perfect."

"Well, we can deal with the placenta when the ambulance gets here," Grace said, opening her bag. She pulled out an aspirator and cleaned out the baby's nose and mouth before handing Jade some plastic clamps and a pair of medical scissors.

Jade placed the clamps on the baby's umbilical cord and handed the scissors to Robbie. "Have at it, daddy. Right between the clamps."

Robbie carefully cut where he was instructed and handed the scissors to Grace as Beck handed the baby over to Cat.

"Rub her back, it'll warm her up faster," he said.

Cat rubbed the baby's back and kissed her tiny head before looking at Robbie. "We have a baby," her voice cracked.

Robbie kissed her lips lightly. "We do. You did so good, I'm so proud of you for doing this with just the bare minimums."

"I didn't really have a choice."

"Ambulance is here," Mrs. Stevens said, opening the door. "Kids, back up, you don't need to be nosy. Out of the way," she said to the students gathered around the door.

"Oh my god, take the baby," Cat said quickly.

"What's wrong?" Robbie asked, taking the baby from her.

"I'm gonna get sick," she said covering her mouth.

Beck quickly grabbed the small trashcan by Mrs. Stevens' desk and got it under Cat's chin just before she started vomiting. Grace held Cat's hair back and Jade stood up when she noticed a gurney rolling towards them, moving out of the way.

"How's everything? Mom and baby are doing good?" a medic asked.

"Well, mom's throwing up, but they're both great. Baby's about ten minutes old, and the placenta hasn't delivered yet," Jade said.

"Has the cord been cut yet?"

"Yeah. We left her attached until after we got her cleaned up."

"We?"

"Beck delivered her," Jade said, gesturing towards Beck.

"Wow. Good job, kid," the medic said. "Once she's alright we'll get her up here on the gurney. Did anybody manage to check her vitals?"

"No—I just got here," Grace said. "I'm a doctor."

"No problem, we'll do it in the ambulance. Is the father here?"

"Me," Robbie said.

"You wanna ride up to the hospital with us in the rig?"

"Sure."

"Cat, I'll be right behind you, okay? Jade, Beck, you get cleaned up a little and we'll leave."

Jade and Beck stood up and the paramedics carefully lifted Cat onto the gurney and covered her with a sheet. Jade gave her a hug and looked at her for a few seconds. "I really am so proud of you, Cat. No one else would've been able to handle having a baby in a chair in their English class. You're one of a kind," she said.

"Let's hope it doesn't happen again."

"Let's just hope you don't get pregnant again until we're out of school. Sound good?"

Cat smiled and nodded. "Sounds good."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Cat smiled, watching her daughter suck on her breast. This time last year, this whole idea would have sounded strange to her. She would have been asking, in her childish way, why would a baby wanna suck on a boob and why would a woman want that to happen? She'd grown up a lot in the last year. In the last months. She knew deep down that it's not going to be an easy ride, but she's bound and determined to make it work for her, for Robbie, and for their daughter.

"You're so pretty," she whispered. "How'd Momma get so lucky, huh?"

"Momma's beautiful, too, that's how," Robbie said from the doorway.

The redhead looked up with a smile, rocking slowly back and forth in the rocking chair she was sitting in. She was still living with Jade and her mother and she was surprised and thankful to find out that they converted one of the extra bedrooms into Jade's room and Jade's old room was turned into a nursery, since it was right next door to Cat's room.

"Hi, Daddy," Cat said.

Robbie walked over to her and kissed her lips before kissing the baby's head. "Hi, Kenzie. I missed you."

"You were only away for a couple hours."

"Ten hours and thirteen minutes, to be exact."

"Well, you had to sleep. That's all she did anyways, you didn't miss much."

"She wasn't up all night?"

Cat shrugged. "A little. She only woke up three times. I finally just gave up on going back to sleep at five this morning."

"I can stay here and keep an eye on her while you sleep."

"No. You're not using our daughter as an excuse to skip school. Nice try though."

Robbie smiled. "It was worth a shot."

"Robbie if you want a ride you better get your ass in the car, I'm leaving in two minutes," Jade said as she walked into the room and kissed the baby's head. "Good morning gorgeous, you woke me up five times last night but I forgive you."

"Five? You said she only woke up three times."

"She did," Cat said.

"No—she only woke _**you** _ up three times. I heard her every time she woke up," Jade said.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I know how to take care of a baby, Cat. She just needed to be changed and I gave her a bottle. I've been doing that at least once a night since we brought her home."

"You should have woken me up, you need to sleep for school, Jade."

"Do I look tired? I'm fine. Honestly, it's no big deal. You need your sleep too, you've gone without sleep a lot more than I have. I don't mind it. She lives in my house, she's partly my responsibility too."

"No she's not, you're the fun aunt, I'm the mother, I'm supposed to take care of her."

"It's fine, Cat. Don't worry about it, seriously. Mom's planning on taking her off your hands for a few hours so you can sleep as soon as you're done feeding her."

"But what about Tyler?"

"She can juggle two babies at once, she's a pro," Jade said before kissing Kenzie's head again. "Bye baby, I'll be back in eight long excruciating hours for cuddles and kisses. Let's go," she said, heading out of the room.

"I'll miss you," Robbie said, running his finger over Kenzie's cheek.

"She really will leave without you," Cat said.

"Right," Robbie said. He kissed her quickly and left the room.

Cat giggled and looked at Kenzie. "Your daddy's a nut. So, what's this I hear about you cheating on me with your Auntie Jade, huh? You're supposed to wake me up, silly goose."

Kenzie stopped suckling after a few minutes and Cat carefully fixed her bra and shirt before laying the baby over her shoulder and patting her back.

"You know, you gave us a really big scare a while ago," Cat said, breathing in that new baby scent. "Yeah, you did. You tried to come too early and you scared us a lot. We've been through a really long journey together, you know. Daddy's not the daddy that made you… the daddy that made you wasn't a very good person. He didn't mean to be bad, though. I know he'd love you to bits and pieces. But, he's not allowed to come around. He did some really bad things to Mommy. But, don't you ever worry about that. I'm gonna make sure nothing ever happens to you. I'm gonna make sure that the things that happened to me don't happen to you. Ever," her voice cracked. "I'll never ignore it if something bad is going on. I'll put a stop to it as soon as I know. I promise…"

Cat let out a small sob and she sniffled, rubbing Kenzie's back. "I'm so glad you're okay… I'm so proud that you're my little girl, no matter how you were made. I'll never regret you. _**Ever**_."

"There's no reason to," Grace said from the doorway.

Cat sniffled and looked up, letting out a small whine. "There's a huge reason to… but I can't."

Grace walked over to Cat and carefully took Kenzie from her, swaying back and forth and she laid the baby in her arms. "When you look at her, do you regret her?"

"No…"

"When you think of her, do you regret her?"

"No."

"When you're nursing her, do you regret her?"

Cat sniffled and shook her head. "Never…"

"Then there's nothing to regret her for."

"But… my brother… my own **_brother_** …" her voice cracked.

Grace gently laid Kenzie down on her back in her crib and knelt in front of Cat, taking her hands into her own. "I know it hurts to remember. I know it hurts to be reminded of what he did to you every time you look at her. But you know what's more important? That every time you look at that beautiful, perfect, healthy, lucky baby girl, you love her even more."

"I already do…"

"Then, that's all that matters, sweetheart. You know what you need? You need a nice long bath and a nice long nap."

"But the baby…"

"I'll take care of her. I've done this four times. Take a bath and get some rest. If you sleep past three then I'll wake you up so you don't mess up your sleeping schedule. Okay? Just rest. You need it."

* * *

Cat took in a deep breath, stretching as she woke up. She looked at her phone and groaned when she saw it was only eleven-thirty.

"Could've slept another three hours," she muttered as she sat up. She quickly glanced down to her shirt and sighed when she saw that she'd leaked through her bra. "Great. Thanks, motherhood," she said.

After changing into a fresh shirt and bra and making sure to put in a bra pad this time, she heard Kenzie fussing through the baby monitor and made her way to the next room.

"I don't care!" Grace snapped downstairs. "You haven't tried to see her since…" her voice trailed off as Cat got into the baby's room.

"Grandma Grace must be talking to Joanie's daddy," Cat said, carefully lifting Kenzie up out of the crib. "Oh my lord baby girl, you're soaked. Did Grandma underestimate your peeing powers?" she asked, kissing her head. "You want a bath? You're gonna get one anyways," she said laying Kenzie on the changing table.

"So, did you have a nice nap? Mommy could've slept a little longer," she said as she unbuttoned the soaked onesie and carefully took it off. She took the wet diaper off and threw it in the diaper genie before wiping her off with a wipe before scooping her up in her arms and walking to the bathroom across the hall.

"What parent just leaves their child!" Grace shouted.

Cat let out a small sigh. She felt bad about it. Jade's father was only three of the West children's biological father, which were Travis, Jade, and Tyler. Grace and Todd broke up shortly after Jade was born. After Grace had Joanie, that relationship failed because Joanie's father didn't want to take on the responsibility of being a father. When Joanie was just about a year old, Grace and Todd fell madly in love again, and Todd officially adopted Joanie as his own and then little Tyler was born.

Tyler was a special little boy. It was hardly ever talked about, but he was born with a mild case of Cerebral Palsy—which they found out about shortly after he had his seizure all those months ago.

He was Cat's favorite little boy in the world—of course, until she has her own son. But Tyler will always be the first boy to ever capture her heart. Aside from Robbie, of course.

Cat finally got Kenzie into the baby bath and giggled when her daughter's eyes widened at the feel of the water. "Is it weird? Water's new for you, huh?" she asked, wringing water out of a wash cloth over Kenzie's body.

As she gave Kenzie her bath, the baby kicked and fussed but Cat finally got her cleaned up and wrapped her in a towel before going back into the nursery and getting her dried off, in a fresh diaper, and a new onesie. After she put a bow on Kenzie's tiny head she picked her up and kissed her cheek. "Hi, my pretty girl. You smell a lot better," she said before walking out of the room.

As she started downstairs, she heard a familiar voice. A voice she wasn't fond of. A voice Grace must have been yelling at instead of Joanie's father.

"Mom? Do we have company?" Cat asked as she descended down the rest of the stairs. She stopped in her tracks as Grace walked over to her and her gaze flitted to the other woman.

Her mother.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Cat asked harshly.

"I will not take that tone from you, young lady," her mother said.

"Cat, I think you should talk to Carol," Grace said.

"Well, I don't," Cat said. "I don't want to talk to her. She left me, she abandoned me—"

"I saved your life," Carol said. "I sacrificed myself to get you away from Max and your father."

"Once! Only once! I was raped for years before you did shit to help me, and then as soon as your pathetic ass was out of the hospital, you fucking left! You left me all alone!"

"And I apologize—"

"Apology not accepted," she said, cradling Kenzie to her chest. "I don't have time to waste on a relationship that will never be fixed. I have a baby now, she's more important."

"I know that, but I'd really like to get to know my granddaughter."

"She's not your granddaughter. I don't care what you say, I don't care how you're related, she is not your grandchild. Grace was here for me through my whole pregnancy. She was there after I gave birth to her, she's the one that helps me out with her, Grace is her grandmother. You'll never be her grandmother. Ever."

"Cat," Grace said.

"No!"

Grace sighed and took Kenzie from Cat carefully.

Cat's glare bore into Carol for a few seconds before she crossed her arms.

"She's beautiful," Carol said. "She's the perfect mix of you and Max…"

"Don't compare my baby to that monster. Ever."

"You were both beautiful babies, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging that."

"It is when your brother got you pregnant."

"You don't have to keep reminding me."

Cat scoffed. "Reminding you? You wanna talk about reminders? Every time I look at her, I think of the night he held me down in the bath tub and almost drowned me while he forced himself into me, despite the fact that he _**had** _ to force it because he was _ **too big**_. I think of all the times he shoved his hand down my panties and got me off. I think about the time he told me I'd be a good mom because I'm a good sister."

"You shouldn't think of those things. You should be focusing on how beautiful and wonderful that baby is," Carol said.

"I do! But with the good things come the bad things, and the bad things are a lot more prominent for me right now. I'm still getting to know her, she's still getting to know me, we're still bonding."

"Carol," Grace interrupted. "I don't mean to sound hostile, but maybe this isn't the best time to discuss this. Cat's right—this is critical bonding time. She's still getting used to having a baby and she needs to focus on getting her mind back in the right place while juggling motherhood at the same time. It's not easy for her."

"Like it was any easier for us when we were raising Travis and Max?" Carol asked.

"We also weren't sixteen years old, Carol. Cat's situation is a lot different than ours were. We got pregnant by our boyfriends. Not our brothers."

"Okay, I'm done talking and listening," Cat said, taking Kenzie from Grace. "I'm going over to Tori's house, she and Trina haven't gotten to meet the baby yet."

"You said you were still sore this morning."

"I am, but it's not going to speed up or slow down the healing process and I'm tired of this conversation, so I'm leaving before I do something I regret," Cat said, leaving the room.

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" Trina said, leaning over Kenzie's car seat. "Oh, she's gorgeous," she said, running her finger over Kenzie's hand. "What's her name?"

"Mackenzie Jade Shapiro," Cat said with a bright smile.

"Can I hold her? Please say I can hold her; I haven't held a baby in almost three years."

"Go ahead. Where's Tori?" she asked, walking to the kitchen.

"Took Lacey to the park but that was an hour ago so they should be home any time now," Trina said carefully taking Kenzie out of the car seat.

"She must be growing so fast, I haven't seen her in months."

"To be fair, you were on bed rest."

"It wasn't bed rest, it was… Grace being overprotective. Mind if I find something to snack on? My sugar's getting low."

"Sure, we have some candy bars in one of the drawers, help yourself."

"Ooh, jackpot."

"What jackpot?" Tori asked as she walked in with Lacey in tow. "Cat? What are you—oh my god, baby," she said, walking over to Trina and sitting next to her. "Oh my gosh, she's so precious!"

"I know, right?" Cat asked. "Hi Lacey."

"Kitty!" Lacey said, running over to Cat.

Cat picked up the little girl and kissed her cheek. "Hi, baby love. Did you have fun at the park?"

"Yeah. I swing."

"I like the swings, they're my favorite. Did you play on the slide?"

"No, swide too big."

"Aw, maybe when you're a little bit bigger then. You want some juice?"

"Yeah, joosh!"

"What kind?"

"Gwape!"

"Trina, do you water down her juice?" she asked, putting Lacey down.

"What kind?" Trina asked.

"Grape."

"Little more than half water, the rest juice."

"Can I hold her now? Please?" Tori asked.

"Aw, sure," Trina said, passing Kenzie to Tori. "I gotta run down to the police station anyways, Dad locked himself out of his truck. Will you keep an eye on Lacey or do you want me to take her with me?"

"I'll watch her, no problem."

"Thanks, I'll be back in about an hour," she said, grabbing her purse and walking out the door.

Tori smiled, watching Kenzie wriggle around. She rubbed the baby's chest lightly when she started to fuss. "Shh, it's okay."

"Do you want me to take her?" Cat asked, handing Lacey a sipper cup.

"No it's alright—unless she needs to be fed."

"I fed her before I came over, she should be good for another hour or so."

"She really is beautiful, Cat. I'm so proud of you."

Cat smiled and sat next to Tori, lifting Lacey into her lap. "I'm kinda proud of myself."

"You should be. You went through hell. Worse than hell. You dealt with abuse, went through a difficult pregnancy, and you gave birth without medication in a class room on a chair, and even better than anything else, your baby is perfectly fine with no complications and that is a huge, huge deal. It was almost unlikely—she should have had some pretty bad birth defects and she doesn't."

"That we know of."

"Well, if there ever happens to be something, you'll still love her."

"I will. But I'll feel a lot better when all of her tests come back negative."

"We all will," Tori said, lifting Kenzie up and resting her against her chest, letting her curl up as she patted her back. "Hey, cutie. Is this a little bit better?"

"She likes the boobs. They're her favorite spot to lay."

Tori cradled Kenzie's head in her hand as she patted her diaper lightly, swaying back and forth. "She's so tiny. I didn't get to hold Lacey like this."

"You're gonna be a great mom one day."

"Uh… it's funny you should mention that…"

Cat looked at her for a few seconds. "Oh, Tori, no…"

Tori nodded. "Yeah…"

"How far?"

"Nine weeks."

"God… I'm so sorry."

"I'm not," Tori said. "I mean, I am… but I'm not."

"How are you both?"

"Because I know how spectacular life is one you give life to someone else. You and Trina did it just fine. I'll be okay… the only thing is, I don't know how Andre will take it."

"Since when are you two together?"

"We're not."

"Then…"

"We hooked up. But… it's not his."

"Whose is it then?"

"Danny's."

Cat stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Oh…"

"Please, don't be mad at me. I know it was a crappy thing to do to sleep with my best friend's ex boyfriend and it's been on my mind ever since it happened."

"He was your ex boyfriend before he was mine."

"Yeah, but you didn't know that at first. I knew."

Cat played with Lacey's hair when the toddler leaned back against her chest. "It's fine. I have no right to be upset about it. I'm not. I shouldn't be upset about another guy. I'm getting married."

"I'm sorry…"

The redhead shook her head. "Stop talking about it. Does anybody else know about the baby?"

"My parents. Trina. The D Word."

"How are they taking it?"

"My parents aren't thrilled, but they're not giving me too much grief. Trina just keeps reminding me that she's here for me if I ever need her. You Know Who isn't even talking to me. I told him and he just… hung up and won't answer any of my calls."

"Always was a jackass."

"Ass!" Lacey said.

"No," Cat and Tori said in unison.

"We don't say those bad words. Aunt Cat's older than you, she's allowed," Tori said.

"Bad word," Lacey said.

"Yes, bad word."

"I'm so not looking forward to that," Cat said with a small laugh.

"With the potty mouth you've picked up in the last year, Kenzie's first word is going to be a curse word."

"I'm kinda hoping her first word will be Mama. But yanno, 'fuck' would be pretty funny too."

"Fuck," Lacey repeated, resulting in Tori and Cat sighing.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

"Oh my gosh, she's so cute!" a girl from Sikowitz's class exclaimed, looking at Kenzie in Beck's arms.

"Thanks," Cat said with a smile.

"How old is she now?"

"Two weeks."

"She's so tiny."

"She was a little bit early. Growing a little bit every day though."

"So this is the famous Hollywood Arts baby," Sikowitz said, making his way over to them.

"She is," Cat said, nodding.

"And do I get to learn this tiny human's name?"

"Mackenzie Jade Shapiro."

"Ah… well, I hope for your sake she doesn't end up like her namesake."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade asked.

"Hey, that's my thing," Cat said.

"Oh… nothing," Sikowitz said before walking away as he drank a coconut.

"I should get her home. She needs a bath and a nap."

"Come see us again soon, Kenz," Beck said, kissing Kenzie's head before handing her off to Jade.

"You see her practically every day," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah but it's extra fun when I get to see her during school."

Jade cradled Kenzie to her chest and kissed her head a few times as she swayed back and forth with her. "I'll miss you. Be good for Mommy, okay? I love you."

"She loves you too Auntie, now hand her over so I can get her home," Cat said.

"I can keep her with me."

"Yeah, no. Not happening. I need to feed her as soon as possible, my boobs are killing me."

"Oh, fine," Jade said handing Kenzie to her. "Tell Mom I'll be home a little late. I have to run to the drugstore after school."

Cat looked at her for a few seconds. "You better not be pregnant," she whispered.

"Relax. I'm still a virgin—but I won't be this weekend, which is why I need to go to the drugstore," she said quietly.

"What?"

"Beck and I are going out of town this weekend. I'm finally ready. That's why I'm stocking up on condoms so I don't end up pregnant."

"Jade… make sure this is what you really want. Make sure you won't regret it."

"It'll be with Beck—I won't regret it."

* * *

"Caterina Evangeline!" Grace called out from upstairs.

Cat bit her lip. She was currently in the living room, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, doing homework that Jade brought home for her and nursing Kenzie. She couldn't think of what she'd done to be full first named and middle named, but it was worth a shot to ask.

"…Yeah?" Cat called.

"If you don't want anybody to know you use a vibrator, I suggest you keep your bedroom door closed and put it somewhere safer!"

Cat's cheeks flushed red when Jade snorted and she looked at Robbie, pursing her lips. "Okay, Mom… Sorry!"

"Tyler found it!"

"I promise it's clean!"

"I'm putting it in your panty drawer!"

"Works for me!"

"So, is the vibrator the reason I hear those muffled moans at night?" Jade asked.

"No… Shut up," Cat said, continuing her homework.

"Why do you need a vibrator?" Robbie asked.

"Well it's not like I can have sex right now, I need something to scratch the itch."

"If you're itchy in the vagina you should probably see a doctor about that," Jade said. "Can I have the baby now?"

"Do your tits produce milk?"

"No…"

"Then no. She's still eating. And that's not the kind of itch I was talking about, Yeast Infection Of The Year."

"Dude, shut up," Jade said, lightly kicking the back of Cat's head.

"Hello, I have my child in my lap!"

"Don't talk about my vagina issues in front of Puppet Boy."

"Don't call him that, that's mean."

"Cat!" Joanie said, running into the living room.

"Yes, Joanie," Cat said as she continued writing in her notebook.

"Tyler had this again," the little girl said, holding a pink vibrator out to Cat.

"Oh my god," she said, grabbing it and laying it on the floor next to her.

"What is it?"

"It's a massager."

"Why do you need a massager?"

"Sometimes I need a massage."

"I can massage your shoulders for you."

"Not the kind of massage I'm talking about, baby girl," Cat said. "You're too little for this conversation."

"Go do your homework, Joan," Jade said.

As Joanie left the room, Cat laid her pencil down when Kenzie stopped eating and she fixed her bra and shirt. "You want her, Auntie?"

"Yes, gimme," Jade said, holding her arms out.

"Do I ever get to hold my daughter?" Robbie asked.

"When you're done with your homework," Cat said. "I'm doing mine, you can do yours. You're not gonna use the baby as an excuse to fail."

"Okay, Mom."

Jade laid Kenzie on her chest as she laid back on the couch and patted her back gently. "Want me to give her a bath in a little bit? She's sweaty."

"Sure," Cat said. "Hey, when's that play you're in?"

"Next weekend."

"At Black Box?"

"Yeah."

"We'll be there. God, I wish I was in the play. Susan McCallister got my role."

"She only got it because somebody tried to come over a month early."

"I honestly think I would've been kicked out of the play whether she came on time anyways," Cat said with a shrug.

"Nah, Sikowitz would've kept you."

"You think so?"

"You're his favorite out of all of us. He wouldn't have given your role away if you didn't have the complications you did."

"It's nice being the cute one," Cat said with a smile.

A burp erupted from Kenzie and Cat's eyes widened, slowly turning her head.

"That was not my child," she said.

"That was definitely your child," Jade said with a laugh. "Good one, Kenz."

"So unladylike."

"It definitely was but it was amazing," the goth said, standing up with the baby. "I'm gonna go change her and give her a bath."

"Okay. Thanks."

As Jade left the room, Cat closed her math book and walked over to Robbie, taking his book from him and setting it on the coffee table.

"What's this?" Robbie asked.

"Just a little love and affection," she said, straddling him as she sat in his lap. "You know, I go in for my six-week check up tomorrow."

"Mhm. And?" he asked, running his hands over her sides.

"Well… I was thinking. We're getting married. We've never… officialized our relationship privately," she said kissing his neck.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we can do that soon. You know. Get it done and over with. But still be sweet and sensual."

"And what does that mean?"

"Maybe we can finally seal the deal and have sex for the first time? If I'm cleared," she pressed her hips into his.

"Mm… are you sure you're ready? After what Max did…"

"I'm over it. I don't even think about it anymore."

Cat kissed his lips lightly, rocking her hips against his slowly. "I want this, Robbie… it's really hard for me to not just strip you down and ride you any time we're near each other."

"Okay," Robbie said. "If you're ready."

"I'm beyond ready. Mm…" she moaned quietly. "God, this feels good…"

"This would be better suited in your room, wouldn't it?"

"Shh…"

Cat grinded her middle into his, keeping the pace slow.

Robbie's hands slid under her shirt, massaging her breasts for a few seconds before Cat moved his hands down.

"Not a good idea. I'll leak," she said.

"I know you two aren't trying to have sex in my living room with my children in the house," Grace said walking past the doorway.

Cat groaned and got off of Robbie's lap, kissing his lips. "I'll be right back. I need to talk to her about something."

The redhead made her way out of the living room and followed Grace into the kitchen. "Can we talk?" she asked.

"Sure. What's up?" Grace asked.

"Well… my six week check up is tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Do you think it's… too early to have sex? If I get the clear?"

"Well, your doctor will tell you whether it's safe or not. That's what the check up is for. But… I gotta say, I don't think it's a good idea."

"We'll use a condom… I just… feel like I owe it to myself, you know? So I can lose my virginity under my own terms…"

"Well… I don't like the idea of you having sex just to get it out of the way. But I know I can't stop you. So, if you do, then you make damn sure you're on the pill, you use a condom, and you take every precaution necessary so you don't get pregnant. I can't stress that enough, Cat."

"I know…"

"I also don't want you two fooling around out in the open like you were—Joanie and Tyler are too young to see that. Keep it to your room."

"We will."

"Where's Jade?"

"Giving the baby a bath."

"Well take this to her. It's from Stanford," Grace said, handing her an envelope.

"Did I get anything?"

"No. Sorry, kiddo."

Cat sighed. "I'm better off at UCLA anyways…" she said before making her way to the living room. "I'm gonna see how Jade's doing with Kenz and I'm going up to my room. You comin?"

"Yeah," Robbie said.

"I'll meet you in there," she said before making her way upstairs to the bathroom. "You got something fr—oh my god! Jade!" she exclaimed, running over to the girl on the floor. She looked into the bath tub and saw that Kenzie was safe in her baby bath and she shook Jade's arm lightly. "Jade? Can you hear me? It's Cat."

When she got no response, her breath quickened. "Mom! Robbie! Something's wrong with Jade!" she shouted.

Footsteps hurried up the stairs and Cat moved out of the way when Grace knelt next to her. "What happened?" Grace asked.

"I don't know, I came in and she was on the floor."

"Is Kenzie okay?" Robbie asked.

"She's fine, she got her in the bath before this happened."

"She's in the bath by herself?"

"She's fine, there's not enough water in it to hurt her—Mom, what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know honey. She has a pulse but it's not very great. Robbie I want you to call 9-1-1 and entertain the kids and keep them downstairs, and Cat I want you to get that baby a warm bath, it's freezing in here," Grace said.

"You want me to worry about bathing my kid when my sister's out cold?"

"She's gonna be out cold whether you're giving her a bath or not. Warm that baby up."

A few hours later, Jade was admitted into the hospital, Grace went with her, and Cat and Robbie stayed at the house with Joanie and Tyler. While the kids ate, Robbie and Cat were finishing up some homework, but Cat stopped writing when she heard the front door open and looked towards the foyer.

"Hey kids—where's Mom?" Todd asked.

"Hospital with Jade," Cat said as Todd kissed her head. "She passed out in the bathroom earlier. They've been there a few hours. Still no word yet, though."

"I'm gonna go change out of my work clothes and head down, then. Hey, Kenzie," he said, tapping Kenzie's nose, who was in her bouncer placed in the middle of the kitchen table.

"Daddy, how come you're not staying here with us?" Joanie asked.

"Because I need to go see how Jade's doing."

"Why can't Cat go instead?"

Cat rolled her eyes. "She's mad at me because I told her she can't have a cookie unless she eats three broccolis."

"They're yucky."

"They help you stay healthy. I'm serious. If you don't eat your broccoli, you don't get a cookie. I'll give yours to Kenzie."

"Joan. Cat's in charge, you listen to her," Todd said.

"But I'm full," Joanie said.

"You took three bites of your chicken, you're not full. Eat your broccoli right now and then finish the yummy stuff. That way you get the not-so-tasty stuff out of the way first," Cat said.

"Daddy…"

"Joan, listen to Cat. I'm going to change and then to the hospital. Behave, young lady," he said before walking upstairs.

"I'm serious Joanie, if you don't eat your broccoli you won't get the cookie," Cat said.

"But I'm already full," Joanie said.

"Well that's fine then. But you still don't get a cookie because you didn't eat your veggies."

"That's not fair!"

"It's perfectly fair. Tyler's eating his broccoli."

"Why couldn't I have carrots?"

"We don't have any carrots."

"We did last night."

"We ate them all."

"I want carrots. I don't like broccoli."

"Tough. Eat it or go get ready for bed."

"No, I'm not tired. And I'm not eating it. It's yucky. I want a cookie."

Cat sighed and got up, taking Joanie's plate and setting it on the counter. "Bed. Now."

"No."

"Joan Elizabeth West, I said go to bed now move your ass and don't make me say it again."

"You're not my mom."

"Well your mom's at the hospital with your sister, so you're stuck with me. Get up. Go to bed. You have five seconds. Five…"

"I'm not goin' to bed."

"Four…"

"I'm not tired."

"Three…"

"You can't make me."

"Two…"

"Joanie, maybe you should just go to bed," Robbie said. "You don't wanna get in trouble."

"I'm not tired so I'm not going to bed," Joanie said.

"One…" Cat said.

"I'm not going!"

Cat took Joanie's arm and pulled her out of her chair, only to have the little girl drop all of her weight to the floor. "Joan Elizabeth!" she snapped, picking her up. "You are going to bed whether you like it or not!"

"DADDY!" Joanie screamed.

Todd came back into the kitchen, now dressed in an old t-shirt and some jeans. "Why are you screaming?"

"She's making me go to bed!"

"She's not listening to me, she refuses to eat her broccoli but she wants a cookie, so I keep telling her to eat it and she keeps saying she's full, so I told her she doesn't need a cookie if she's full but she keeps insisting that she wants it, but she won't eat her god damn broccoli," Cat said, flustered.

"Joan, go upstairs. Now. When Cat says it's bedtime, then it's bedtime. You should have listened to her," Todd said.

Joanie let out a frustrated growl and she ran out of the kitchen, leaving Cat frustrated and leaning against the counter as her eyes watered.

"And you need to watch your language with her," Todd said.

"I'm sorry, she just… pissed me off," Cat said.

"I know. She's little. She's gonna do that," he said, kissing Cat's head. "I'm gonna go up to the hospital now. If she gives you anymore problems then call me and I'll come home."

"Okay…"

"That's what you have to look forward to with the baby," he said with a small chuckle.

"Kill me now."


	11. Chapter 11

**I know I haven't updated in so long-but I've been really busy. I know this chapter is also short, but I hope you enjoy it! I'm still working on Making It Shine, and I have a new story called Moonlight, so check that out too!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN**

School finally ended—for the year. The gang wasn't looking forward to going back for next school year, but they were glad that it would be their last year. Cat, especially—she just wanted to be done with school and focus on taking care of Kenzie, planning ahead for hers and Robbie's wedding, and deal with hers and Sam's babysitting service. Sam was nice enough to let Cat off the hook for the day, so while the blonde was at home with three kids, Cat was at Tori's house, sitting on a deck chair by the pool.

"Thank god for summer," Cat said, placing a hat on Kenzie's head.

"Thank god school's out—I don't have to worry about looking bloated," Tori said, resting her hand on her growing stomach.

Cat laughed and sat Kenzie up in her lap, supporting her front. "Well, Kenzie's excited to get a cousin closer to her age to play with. Lacey's just a bit too energetic for this lazy little ball of fat," she said, kissing Kenzie's cheek.

"I can't believe she's already four months… I feel like she was just born."

"Me, too… But look at you, Miss Expecting-In-Three-Months-And-Still-Hotter-Than-Ever. I was huge by the time I was six months."

"You were gorgeous."

"Yeah, but I was still big."

"You were all baby—I've gained real weight."

"Well, we think you're pretty, Aunt Tori," Cat said, imitating a baby voice for Kenzie.

"Thanks, cutie pie," Tori said, kissing Kenzie's cheek. "Are you ready to get in the pool, kiddo? Mommy got you all slathered up in sunscreen?"

"I do. And Mommy's ready to get in too, so let's go," Cat said getting up from her chair and turning towards Tori, holding her hand up. "Come on, Preggo."

Tori scoffed, but took Cat's hand and stood up. "I'd be offended if I wasn't pregnant."

Cat laughed and carefully got into the pool, holding Tori's hand to help her in after her. She crouched down in the water so she was on her knees and slowly dipped Kenzie into the water, both girls laughing at the infant's sharp intake of breath and wide eyes.

"Is this new for you, missy?" Tori asked.

"It's just like a bath, only it's a cool bath," Cat said, raising the baby up a little and putting her back in the water.

Kenzie started fussing, which turned into a cry and Cat pouted, bringing her daughter to her shoulder and patting her back. "You're alright, it's just water."

"Do you think it's too cold for her?" Tori asked.

"Nah—she's had baths colder than this without complaints," she said laying Kenzie in her arms. "What's the matter, grumpy gills?"

Kenzie's hand found her mouth and she started sucking on her fist, which seemed to calm her down for a few seconds, but she started crying again, kicking her feet.

"Oh, you drama queen," Cat said, walking over to the pool steps and sitting down so she was still in the water. "She's hungry," she said.

"She's always hungry," Tori said. "I hope mine's not like that. I dunno how I'd feel with something permanently attached to my boob."

"Not permanently. Just until she decides she doesn't want to anymore," Cat said, lowering one side of her bikini top and getting Kenzie positioned to eat.

"Does it ever annoy you? Like, do you ever wish you started her out on the bottle?"

"Not really. Breastfeeding is best for them. I like the bonding time. But she takes a bottle really well if I can't nurse. I always have formula with me. I don't like to breast feed in public so she takes a bottle if we're out, or if someone's babysitting for me."

"I dunno if I wanna nurse yet or not. I don't know if I'd be comfortable with it."

"Give it a few weeks. If it's something you don't like, then put the baby on the bottle. No one's gonna judge you. At least it'll be fed."

"I guess so. I'm so not prepared for this yet."

"You better get prepared, Momma—you have three months. You still need to figure out where it's gonna sleep?"

"Well, Trina's going to college so she'll be in a dorm room—and Lacey will take her room, so I could always just give him a corner of that room until we can figure something else out. If we figure something else out."

"She's not taking Lacey? She's just gonna go off to college and leave her kid here? After giving her up and finally getting her back, she's just gonna leave her here?"

"She's gonna talk to an advisor about having her stay with her—but honestly, it's better for Lacey to stay here. She'd have to come here anyways while Trina's at school, so she'd be waking up, getting herself and Lacey ready, bring Lacey here, go to class, come pick Lacey up, and it's just a big hassle. It's easier for her to just go to class and then come over to visit and put Lacey to bed and then go back to her dorm."

"That's a lot of work, still," Cat said, scratching her head as she looked at Kenzie, whose eyes were wide open and staring at Tori. "You have an admirer, Aunt Tori."

Tori looked at Kenzie and smiled, kissing her foot. "Hi, pretty girl. You eating?"

Kenzie smiled, her suction from Cat's breast stopping for a few seconds before she went back to eating.

"Ugh—I can't handle how cute she is," Tori said.

"She's pretty adorable," Cat agreed.

"So, did all of her tests come through?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah. Literally the only thing that was off is that she's a pound heavier than the average four-month-old. Her pediatrician says if she presents any form of slowness in her development then to bring it up. He gave me a chart, and if she doesn't achieve the milestones she should be hitting within two months of the average age then to mention it to him. She seems caught up so far, though."

"Good. See, we told you she'd be just fine. You worried for nothing."

"Hopefully I won't have to worry so much about my next baby."

"You shouldn't be worrying about another baby right now. Just enjoy the one you have."

"I plan on it. It'll be a couple years before I have another baby."

"Don't speak too soon."

* * *

Cat walked into hers and Sam's apartment, closing the door behind her. She stopped in her tracks and her eyes widened at the sight of the apartment. Toys were strewn across the living room—which normally wasn't an issue since they were babysitters, but everything was covered in paint—including her four-month-old daughter, sitting on the counter in her bouncer chair.

"Oh my lord," she said, walking over to Kenzie, placing her purse on the counter before sighing and looking at the baby. "What did your Aunt Sam do to you? You look like a smurf."

"So do you!" Chloe shouted from the end of the hallway, immediately squirting Cat with blue paint from a squirt gun, joined in by Max and Sam with green and orange.

"Oh my god!" Cat exclaimed. She took Kenzie out of her seat and held her in front of her. "I have a shield!"

"That's cheating, we can't shoot a baby," Max said.

Cat grinned, holding Kenzie's back to her chest and kissing her cheek. "That's right. And you know what happens now?"

"We eat some meatballs?" Sam asked. "Momma's hungry for some meatballs."

"I'll make meatballs after you three get this living room cleaned up—toys, paint, whatever that disgusting sticky looking substance is on my coffee table. Clean it up," she said, placing Kenzie back in her seat and buckling her in. "And do not leave my child unattended on top of a counter again, Samantha Emery Puckett."

"Who told you my middle name?"

"Carly."

"You talk to Carly?"

"I got a hold of her when I planned your birthday party—and I asked her what your middle name was so I could use it on you when you aren't listening—like right now. Get busy cleaning my living room."

"Max, Chloe—you heard the woman," Sam said.

Cat picked up a hand towel and threw it at Sam. "You too, lazy. Nonna would freak out if she saw this mess."

"Can I hold the baby afterwards?"

"Possibly. Depends on how good a job you do. Now, get busy," she said, walking to the sink and turning the water faucet on. "Actually, where's Darby?"

"Asleep in our room."

"You keep track of the water temperature and fill up Kenzie's bath tub, then fill up a side of the sink. I'll give Darby a bath too. Are they spending the night?"

"No, but they'll be here until nine tonight."

"Max, Chloe—soon as this room's cleaned, showers."

"Aw, man," Max said.

"You need them—trust me," she said before walking into hers and Sam's room. She smiled, seeing Darby rub his face against her covers and she walked to her bed, sitting down on the edge and rubbing the one-year-old's back. "Hey, mister. You awake?"

Darby turned over on his back and grinned, seeing Cat. He sat up and held his arms out, so she picked him up and kissed his cheek. "Hey. It's been a hot minute since I've gotten to hold you; you're heavy compared to Kenzie. You wanna go get a bath?"

Darby babbled, kicking his feet and Cat laughed, standing up and resting him on her hip before walking back to the kitchen. She smiled, seeing that Sam started Kenzie's bath already and she sat Darby on the counter to undress him.

"How's she doing, Aunt Sam?" Cat asked.

"She's a kicker, that's how she's doing," Sam said.

"Yeah. She makes a mess."

"I know, there's water all over the floor."

"How come Sam isn't helping?" Max asked.

"Shut up."

"Nope—he's right," Cat said. "You need to be helping," she said, lifting a naked Darby into her arms. "I'll take care of the babies."

"But…"

"But nothing. Get to it, Puckell."

"Puckett. It's Puckett."

* * *

Cat stretched, letting out a yawn. She heard Kenzie crying earlier—she wasn't sure how much earlier it was, but she calmed herself down, so she just stayed laying in bed, but she felt like she'd fallen back to sleep.

She looked at her phone and the time red 3:27 AM. _She was probably hungry_ , she thought. Then, she heard her daughter's tiny sounds—those adorable little grunts she makes when she's just waking up. Cat got up and walked over to Kenzie's crib—which was in the joint closet she and Sam shared. They'd been talking to the landlord about getting a two-bedroom apartment so they'd have their own room and so Kenzie didn't have to live in the closet, but they had to wait for another tenant to move out first.

Smiling, Cat picked the baby up and kissed her head, patting her diaper. "You wanna get changed?" she whispered. "You're awfully heavy in the butt," she said, turning on her bedside lamp before grabbing a diaper and wipes. She quickly got Kenzie changed into a fresh diaper and threw the dirty one in the diaper genie before taking her tank top off and picking the four-month-old up again and laying on her side, laying Kenzie on her side as well as she unclipped the right cup of her nursing bra and got Kenzie positioned to eat.

She didn't realize that she'd fallen asleep—the next time she woke up, it was 9:18 AM and her blanket was pulled up to her chin—most likely Sam's doing. Pushing the blanket away from her, she clipped her bra back together and pulled her shirt on before quickly using the restroom and walking out to the living room.

There, she saw Robbie sitting on the couch with Kenzie in his arms, feeding her a bottle while Sam stood at the counter eating meatballs. She walked behind the couch and wrapped her arms around Robbie, kissing his cheek.

"Hi. You could have woken me up if she was hungry," she said.

"I wanted you to sleep in," Robbie said.

"You didn't let me sleep in," Sam said.

"I needed you to open the door for me, I don't have a key."

"Whatever. When you're done feeding the little human, put her in her carseat. I'm gonna take her on a little walk."

Cat looked at her for a few seconds. "…Where are you taking my baby?"

"The park. The arcade. The museum."

"Goomer and Dice—alright. That's fine, but text me when you're on your way back home. And make sure you take the diaper bag with enough diapers and a change of clothes, her pacifier, and a couple bottles."

"Already got it packed."

"She's almost better than you," Robbie said.

Cat rolled her eyes. "Seriously, text me. I might be busy."

* * *

And she was busy—busy riding Robbie.

He was laying on her bed, her on top of him and her hips were moving expertly. Her hands rested upon his chest, one of his hands rested upon her thigh and his other hand's thumb circling around her clit—exactly the way she liked it.

Cat let out a moan, her hips starting to move slightly quicker. "Baby…" she whispered. "Fuck…"

Just a few seconds later, a moan came from Robbie's lips as he thrusted his hips up into hers as he released himself into her womb. Just a few seconds after that, Cat let a guttural moan slip through her throat as she came, making a wet mess all over the both of them.

She panted heavily, still rocking her hips slightly against his thumb until she became too sensitive to tolerate it, and she pushed his hand away before allowing herself to lay on him, both of them breathing quickly.

"That was…" Robbie started.

Cat nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Same here."

She looked towards her nightstand when she heard a buzz and she reached over, reading a text. "Sam's on her way home," she said, sending a quick reply back. "Wanna go take a shower? I don't wanna smell like vagina juice."

Robbie laughed. "Yeah, sure. Let's go take care of that."


End file.
